Return of the Red Hood
by CG07
Summary: It's been a year since the Red Hood was last sighted. What will Bruce think once rumors of his return are circulating? More importantly...what will he tell Tim? Crossover w/new series Young Justice.
1. Chapter 1

Okay several things.

1) Robin will be portrayed by Tim Drake

2) Kid Flash is Bart Allen

3) All the other Characters (Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Superboy) are the same people.

I know this is probably...okay this is definitely AU. But I just thought the story would fit better if Tim was robin.

Anyways i saw Under the Red Hood, and I loved it. I thought it would be fun to write about what would happen if Tim and Jason ever met. So this takes place about a year after the movie Under the Red Hood. During the movie Tim was out of the country, so he's never heard of the Red Hood.

I really hope you guys like this.

Let me know what you think.

* * *

Things were starting to become up and running for Mount Justice. Two months had passed by since the Cadmus incident. Guardian had been overseeing all of the necessary changes in the Cadmus project, they had questioned all of the workers relentlessly but so far none of them knew about Dr. Desmand's actions.

The five new members had been working relentlessly since the whole ordeal themselves. Superboy was still adjusting to his new lifestyle. He was still a little distant from the group apart from Robin, but he was able to work in a team.

Aqualad had assumed the role of leaders since the establishment of young justice, but he often went to Robin for advice. While Robin may be the youngest of the group he had the most experience, so his input was valued by Aqualad.

The team had mainly covered patrol watches across the cities that surrounded Mt. Justice, even though they held their own against Cadmus, the League was still wary of the assignments they were put on.

The league was having its own meeting in the Watchtower regarding all of the latest drug dealings.

Batman, Flash, Superman, and J'onn were at the head of the table leading the discussion.

"It's obvious that Black Mask has had a hand in all of these deals," Green Arrow stated, "What I don't understand is how he's spreading his influence not only in Gotham, but in cities like Metropolis and Star City, he's never had such a large influence before.

Batman intertwined his fingers in front of his face. " He's starting to get desperate, he's reaching out to other dealers in different cities , I'm having Nightwing and Speedy looking into it."

"A lot of drug dealers are getting desperate." John Stuart pointed out. "Ever since the whole deal with Red Hood things have gone from bad to worse, and my sources are saying that he's starting to stir up trouble again."

He didn't notice Batman's tensing and the clenching of his fists. It was obvious that the Red Hood fiasco was still a sore spot, but very few knew the reason why.

"You can't be sure of that," he said in a tight voice. "It's been a year since he was last seen, and I highly doubt he would bring so much attention to him in the first place."

"With all the crap he's pulled the last time, I honestly can't find it hard to believe." John said staring accusingly at Batman, "He's a criminal like all the others, and he should've been taken care of the first time he appeared."

Batman finally slammed his fists and the table and stood up, his chair backing up in a screech.

"First of all, you don't know the FIRST THING ABOUT THE RED HOOD!" he shouted, "So don't start telling me how to run my city!"

Before John could get up and retaliate Flash quickly intervened. "Okay that's enough, we didn't come here to fight each other, we came here to come up with a solution for the drug trade, but that's obviously not going to happen right now, so we should all take a breather."

Superman stood up. "I agree with Flash, we'll continue this meeting tomorrow."

As everyone got up to leave Flash noticed Batman standing up and walking towards the window. He entered one of his infamous brooding sessions as he gazed at the stars.

"You okay?" Flash asked.

Bruce sighed and placed his hand on the glass. "I'm fine."

Flash snorted, "Right and I'm Lex Luthor."

He was rewarded with one of the infamous Batglares.

"You can't keep blaming yourself for what happened to Jason." Flash said, "His choices were his own, and no matter how much influence you try to put on him, in the end it all comes down to him."

Bruce remained silent.

"Did you talk to Tim?"

His fist was clenched.

Flash sighed. "Sooner or later you're going to have to tell him."

"It doesn't concern him."

"The hell it doesn't Bruce," Flash said, "You and I both know how much pride Jason took in that suit, did it ever occur to you what his reaction would be once he found out someone else was wearing it."

"You think I don't know!" Bruce snapped, "You don't know Jason like I do, and unlike us, he's willing to kill! You really think I want Tim to know."

"He has a right to know Bruce," Flash said, "He's been Robin for three years, the fact that you kept this from him…how do you think he's gonna feel?"

Bruce remained silent.

Flash put a hand on his shoulder. "Bruce I know that this is hard for you, and I know that you want to protect him, but like it or not Tim needs to know, you owe him that much."

Bruce sighed, "I know. I just…don't know how to tell him."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not Batman, Red Hood, or Young Justice

* * *

Robin and Aqualad were patrolling around Gotham. They had just gotten back from their mission in Moscow to follow a lead regarding Cadmus, it turned out to be a dead end. They had only returned an hour ago and only the Red Tornado, and Black Canary knew of their return. So far things were pretty quiet in Gotham.

"Aqualad you read me?" Robin asked.

"Affirmative, Kid Flash?"

"Loud and clear boys." Kid Flash quipped. "Are we calling it a night?"

"It appears to be silent." Aqualad stated, "I suppose there is no harm in retiring early."

"Dude, can't you ever talk like a _normal _person." Kid Flash said.

"Do you take offense in the way I speak?" Aqualad asked in a curt tone suggesting he was starting to become annoyed.

"_Seriously, _you're doing it again."

Robin was ignoring them and continuing his patrol. He had been patrolling in the northern section of the city, and he had stopped at the Upper West Side of the city. He somersaulted at the top of a four-story building facing an alleyway. He took out his binoculars and zoomed in on his targets. He saw some suspicious looking people talking. There was a black Sudan with no license plates, and the men were gesturing angrily towards each other.

"Guys." Robin interrupted their bickering. "There's something going on down at the Upper West side of Gotham."

Both boys paused, they knew the Upper West side was one of the rougher neighborhoods in Gotham, and they were both uneasy at the fact that their youngest member was there by himself.

"Robin, stay where you are." Aqualad ordered immediately heading towards the neighborhood, "Kid Flash and I will be with you shortly."

"We're on our way." Kid Flash said zooming towards the place.

Robin rolled his eyes at the fact that they were being overprotective. Despite how far he had come, people still treated him like a kid. He figured he should get a closer look at the meeting so he jumped towards the crates in the alleyway to get a better look; he was about twelve feet from the action, so he could hear their conversation.

"You better not be tryin to cheat us." Thug 1 said. He was an Italian man about 6'2 with black hair and green eyes, he wore an all black Armani suit with brown Italian leather shoes. "Freddie don't take kindly to cheaters."

"Freddie shouldn't be so picky," Thug 2 snapped as he grabbed a suitcase out of the truck, "With all the dealings Black Mask has going on, he better be grateful for whatever he gets."

Robin leaned in to get a closer look.

"Aren't you just dying to find out what's in there." A voice said behind him.

Robin snapped his head around just in time for a boot to come into contact with his face. He fell off of the crates and hard onto the ground. He looked up to see a tall, muscular figure wearing a dark brown leather jacket, tight silver shirt, with black cargo pants and black combat boots. His most distinctive feature was the red helmet that completely surrounded his head.

"Look here boys," he said, "We've got ourselves a little snoop."

"It's Robin." Thug 1 said.

Everyone whipped out their guns and were about to shoot at Robin, suddenly a yellow and orange blur was circling around them.

The next thing they knew their guns were on the ground.

Kid Flash had zipped in. "Aw, Come on boys. You don't wanna start the party without us."

At that same moment Aqualad leapt to the center of the alley. Then he whipped out his swords and started to attack the thugs closest to him. Pretty soon it was becoming an all-out brawl. Men from both sides drew out their weapons which mostly consisted of guns and knives. But none of them had noticed the strange red-hooded man disappear.

Nobody except Robin that is.

He just as stealthily followed said man across two rooftops until he finally confronted him at a six story building.

"Stop!"

Surprisingly the man stopped. Robin didn't expect him to stop at all. Soon they were standing a mere six feet apart.

"Who are you?" Robin demanded. "What do you want?"

The Red Hood did nothing but stare. For a long moment he said nothing.

"Didn't take long for him to replace me, did it?"

Robin was taken aback. "What?"

Red Hood only narrowed his eyes. Suddenly he lunged at Robin and engaged him in a fight. Robin was caught by surprise and barely blocked his first two punches until he was kicked in the stomach and got the wind blown out of him. He skidded across the floor and hit the brick wall with a thud. Before he even knew it a gun was being held against his face, the Red Hood seemed to be debating whether or not he should pull the trigger.

"Screwing with me was a big mistake kid."

The gunshot could be heard from miles around.

Robin had shut his eyes once he had seen Hood's finger on the trigger. He realized that his right ear was ringing.

Red Hood had moved the gun and shot the wall Robin was leaning against.

"Do yourself a favor kid, get out while you still can." Red Hood said, "I won't be so nice the next time."

With that the Red Hood leapt off the roof and took off.

Robin could vaguely hear voices calling out to him. Then the darkness surrounded him.

"Robin!" Aqualad called out. "Robin!"

He jumped on the roof Robin was on and breathed out a sigh of relief. He spoke to his comm piece.

"I've found him." He said, "Call Miss Martian and Superboy. Tell them to bring the ship.

He ran towards Robin, but once he saw that Robin was unconscious he began to panic ran even faster. He dropped to his knees and cradled Robin in his arms. He pressed his ear against Robin's chest and was relieved to hear a steady heartbeat.

He gently tried to shake Robin awake, but to no avail. Robin's head only shook slightly and landed against Aqualad's shoulder.

He heard a whirring over his head and the wind started picking up on the roof. He looked up to find the BioShip above their heads. The ship hovered above their heads and the bottom opened a small hole so the others could get out. Soon Kid Flash, Miss Martian and Superboy jumped out the ship.

Once they saw the unconscious Robin their smiles of relief changed to looks of panic. They quickly rushed to their fallen teammate. Superboy got there first and knelt to their level.

"What happened?" he asked urgently.

"I don't know," Aqualad said looking towards Robin. "We were fighting these men in the Upper West Side, then we lost track of Robin."

"You let him leave alone!" Superboy asked incredulously.

"Of course not!" Aqualad said hotly.

"Look fighting isn't going to take us anywhere." Megan said. "Let's get back to the ship and back to the base. We need to get Robin to Medical back at the base."

"She's right." Kid Flash said, looking at Robin with a worried look. "We need to get Robin out of here."

Aqualad nodded and went to scoop Robin into his arms but Superboy stopped him.

"I'll carry him." He said. Aqualad wordlessly handed Robin to Superboy, who carried him bridal style. Megan grabbed Aqualad and Kid Flash then flew them to the ship. Superboy went in carrying Robin. Then the ship launched back to Mt. Justice.

They didn't see the Red Hood silently watching them.

* * *

So what'd you think?

I really hope you guys like it.

R n R pretty please. Suggestions are welcome as well.

BTW Superboy and Robin were best friends in the comics. so i'm going to try my best and bring out that friendship in here.

Next time: Batman's reaction to their encounter.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Batman or Young Justice Series or any of it's characters.

* * *

Robin was sleeping soundly on a bed in the infirmary. The entire team surrounded his bedside. The infirmary looked like any other hospital room. White walls, white doors, the sounds of heart monitors and IV drips filling the room.

Once the team had gotten back, Red Tornado had immediately ordered Robin to be placed in the infirmary. He only had a few scrapes and bruises, other than that he was relatively fine. The tests shown that he had fainted from shock. When the others were confused Aqualad had explained it.

Before I found Robin, I heard gunshots." Aqualad explained, recalling the panic he felt once he heard those gunshots and his rush to get to their youngest teammate. Superboy immediately bristled once he heard that.

"Come again?" he asked unnecessarily.

Megan had placed her hands over her mouth and her eyes widened in shock. Everyone quickly looked towards Robin as if to be reassured he had no gunshot wounds. Red Tornado quickly put their minds at ease.

"I saw no bullet wounds when I examined him." He assured them. "The only thing he needs to recover is rest."

"Did you guys see who it was that attacked him?" Megan asked looking towards Kid Flash and Aqualad.

Both shook their heads.

"We were pretty much focused on the mobsters with guns." KF explained. "But I doubt that any of them could've escaped on the rooftop with Robin chasing them."

Superboy muttered to himself, the rest of the group barely caught whispers of..."idiot...shouldn't have... I _told _him to stay put!"

They were soon interrupted by the sound of screeching tires. Everyone in the room knew exactly who that was.

"I think it be wise that you all retired to your rooms." Red Tornado said, not wanting to add four more patients to the infirmary. Three of the four teens followed his advice, but one remained.

"Superboy?" Megan asked.

"I'm staying."

Megan was about to protest, but she knew it would be pointless. Once Superboy made his mind up, he never changed it. Especially when it came to Robin.

Superboy glanced back at Robin in his bed. While the others had tried to be as welcoming as possible, Robin seemed to be the only one who could actually understand him. He understood that he needed the space to adjust to his new life, and he always did his best to include Superboy in their activities, and he was never awed by his abilities, he just treated him as if he were an equal. Not to mention he was the youngest member, and that made him even more protective.

His thoughts were interrupted by thundering footsteps as he entered the room. He barely glanced in Batman's direction, who seemed to be scowling at his appearance.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Superboy merely quirked an eyebrow at Batman's hostility, and continued to watch over Robin. "I checking on my friend."

Batman was still wary of Superboy, he still didn't trust him despite Robin's assurances.

"Leave, he needs his rest." Batman said none too gently.

Finally Superboy faced Batman, "Last I checked this was a free country, and I doubt that me standing here is hurting Robin's recovery."

Just as Batman was about to retort, a soft voice interrupted them.

"You guys should really learn to get along." Robin's voice was barely above a whisper.

"How are you feeling?" Batman asked in a gruff voice, his argument with Superboy forgotten.

"Okay." Robin said in a clearer voice now that the sleep was coming out of his voice. He tried to get up but a hand from Superboy stopped him.

"You shouldn't get up." he said, "Tornado said you needed to rest."

"I'm fine." Robin protested trying to get up again, this time it was Batman's voice that stopped him.

"You heard him." He said in a no-nonsense tone. "Rest."

Robin sighed wearily and gave into their commands.

Batman then turned to Superboy. "Leave."

Before another fight could begin Robin quickly intervened.

"It's okay Kon." he said using his nickname. "I'll be okay."

Superboy looked towards Robin with a gentle tone and nodded. "See you later."

Once he left the room Robin turned to Batman. "Do you always have to provoke him?"

"Don't turn this around on me." Batman snapped. "What were you thinking going after that crook on your own."

"I was thinking I didn't want some unidentified crook to get away while my teammates were busy fighting off mafia goons."

Bruce sighed pinching the bridge of his knows and closing his eyes inresignation.

"Did you get a good description?" he asked wearily.

"Kind of hard to get a description of a guy who's literally cover himself from head to toe." Robin said.

"What are you talking about?"

"He was wearing black cargo pants and combat boots," Robin explained, "He had a silver long sleeved-muscle shirt, and a brown leather jacket, but the weirdest thing about him was his red helmet."

Batman froze when Robin started to describe him. It was his worst fear coming true, his former protoge and current protoge meeting face to face.

"I'm pulling you out."

That threw Robin in for a loop. "What?"

"You heard me." Batman said turning around and walking towards the doorway. "Starting now you are hereby relieved of active duty. You're coming back to Gotham and staying at the manor until this whole drug war is settled."

"You can't do that!" Robin snapped, "The team needs me!"

"I can and I have." Batman said sparing one last glance at Robin, "My decision is final. Have your things ready in thirty minutes."

The last thing Robin heard was the door slamming and thundering footsteps fading.

"Great." Robin said throwing himself back on the pillows

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Gotham East a meeting was going down. The same drug lords that Red Hood had summoned a year ago, it was in the exact same place and the exact setting all over again.

Everyone was waiting anxiously, knowing that it was pointless to refuse the Red Hood. They didn't want to believe that he had survived the explosion last year, but luck never seemed to be on their side.

"Well, well, well." a voice boomed out. "It's so nice to see so many familiar faces."

They all looked up to the bridge and sure enough the Red Hood was there, the same place he was when they first met him.

"That's right boys." he said cocking his AK-47, "I'm back."

* * *

So What'd you think?

I know that it's slow right now but I promise the action will be coming. Please try to be patient.

I'm sorry if any of the characters are OC, let me know if I'm doing anything wrong.

Advice and suggestions are welcome as well

Please Review.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own the series Batman, Young Justice, or it's characters.

* * *

Tim was hurriedly packing the last of his spare clothes in his dufflebag. He had already changed into his black pants and black jacket alongside his green hoodie and sunglasses. Once he had been discharged from the infirmary, Batman told him explicitly to pack quickly and meet him at the Batjet.

Before he could zip his bag he heard a soft knock on his door. He looked back to find Superboy leaning his head in the doorway.

"Hey, can I come in?"

"Sure, but make it fast." Tim said shouldering his backpack. "I have get to Batman in ten minutes.

Superboy finally took note of the emptiness of the room. "What's going on?"

"He's pulling me off active duty," Robin explained dully, "He's taking me back to Gotham tonight."

"What?" Superboy's eyes widened incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"The bags not just for decoration."

"You're leaving just like that?" Superboy asked. "You're not even going to argue with him?"

"You didn't see him Connor." Robin said shaking his head. "When I started to describe the guy that attacked me he looked terrified."

"I didn't think the Bat was capable of emotions." Superboy said.

"I'm serious Kon." Tim looked directly into his eyes. "Something about this guy has Batman spooked. And if he can spook the Batman what else do you think he could be capable of."

Superboy had no answer to that, he just sighed and walked over to Tim and put his hand on his shoulder. "You gonna be alright?"

"I'll be fine." Robin said handing him a piece of paper. "But could you do me a favor?"

"Sure thing, what is it?" Superboy asked.

"All of the information on our case tonight is on this piece of paper." Tim explained. "I need you and the others to dig up whatever information you can find on this guy and send it to the address I wrote on there."

"Is Batman going to find out?" Superboy asked.

Robin smirked. "Don't worry, it's in a separate account of the Batcave, he's not going to be able to get in it."

"What makes you so sure about that." Kon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I've got my ways."

Superboy sighed "I don't even wanna know."

Tim sobered up, "Take care of the team alright?"

"We'll be fine. If you need us all you have to do is call."

"Thanks." Tim said walking out of the room. "I call as soon as I can."

* * *

Getting the space that surrounded Crime Alley was easy enough. It was nothing more than four blocks of abandoned, crippled buildings, with the money he had collected from the drug lords buying it was no problem either. During his time in hiatus he had paid a visit to his old friend Ra's and Talia, he had convinced them that building a hideaway of his own was indespensible to his cause, and after everything they had done to him, he figured they owed him that much. Not too long after their meeting, the construction underground began.

His cave was no different from the Batcave, except for the fact he had much brighter lighting, and his computer system was similar to the technology Ra's used. He had quietly been keeping track of the drug trades going on, and he wasn't the least bit surprised that during his disappearance the drug lords had gone back to dealing to kids. He would set an example for them soon, he had just finished his meeting with them, and he had shown them exactly who was boss.

Right now his main focus was his old mentor, or more specifically his new partner. On the computer were various photos and videostreams of Robin's latest actions. Jason had to admit the kid was good, especially for someone his age. He didn't know what angered him more, the fact that Bruce had replaced him, or the fact that this kdi was a better Robin than he or Dick had ever been. Hacking into Young Justice's system was easy enough, it was the same program Bruce had used in the Batcave, and he easily saw that it was Robin who would figure out the mysteries of their cases, the one who placed all the pieces of the puzzle together. It turns out that along with being a perfect gymnast, and street-fighter, he was also a good detective.

Well that was just _friggin_ perfect!

He threw a chair at the wall and watched it shatter to pieces. He was breathing heavily from his anger and was visibly shaking.

'He replaced me!' he thought bitterly, 'It's bad enough that he left my murderer alive, he actually has _the balls _to replace me!'

He was punching, kicking, and hitting anything he could find, his fit of rage lasted for about several minutes and his final act was to rip off his mask and throw it against the wall. He fell down to his hands and knees in a heap.

A single tear rolled down his cheek.

'_Why?' _he thought brokenly, _'Why?'_

_

* * *

_

The ride back to Gotham was silent. They had actually flown through the night and morning. It was around five o'clock in the evening at Gotham, Tim spent most of his time trying to deduct why Bruce was so evasive on the subject of this newcomer. It was then that he realized that Batman had already met this criminal, but why wouldn't he tell Tim. Why would he feel the need to keep it a secret?

The Batjet had made a landing and there stood Alfred, dutiful and faithful as always. Tim smiled, if not anything else, he was grateful for the chance to see Alfred again.

"Hey Alfred," Tim greeted cheerfully.

"A pleasure to see you again Master Timothy." Alfred replies with the faintest of smiles. "I've prepared your room already and I've placed a light meal before supper."

"That sounds great, thanks Alfred." Tim said, he spared a backwards glance towards Bruce.

"I'll be in my room." Tim said simply then walked up the steps of the cave.

Bruce didn't speak to Alfred until he was sure that the door was closed.

Surprisingly Alfred was the one who broke the silence. "You haven't told him yet have you."

Bruce's silence was the only answer he needed.

"Master Timothy has been your partner for three years." Alfred lectured. "Do you honestly thing sheltering him from the truth will save him."

"What am I supposed to tell him Alfred?" Bruce snapped "How can I tell him that the Robin who died before him is suddenly alive!"

"I'm not sure Master Bruce, but the fact of the matter is that you must tell him." Alfred answered calmly. "He deserves the truth, Lord knows how much he's looked up to Masters Dick and Jason."

Bruce raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I supposed you haven't noticed, but everyday before he goes on patrol with you he looks at Master Jason's costume, and everynight before he goes to bed he always pays a silent tribute to Jason's memory." Alfred said.

This was new to Bruce, he didn't realize how much Tim had paid attention to Jason's costume. It never occured to him that Tim would idolize Jason, but now that he thought about it, it made sense. Both Jason and Dick were his predeccessors, it was only natural that he looked up to him.

_'If only Jason could see how much he meant to Tim.' _he thought sadly.

Alfred had gone up the stairs to check up on Tim but a few minutes later he had come back down in a panicked state.

Bruce was instantly on alert.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's Master Timothy." Alfred answered, "He's gone!"

* * *

Tim had been enjoying his walk in the crisp autumn air that surrounded Gotham. It was still relatively early and he figured that it wouldn't hurt to get out. He needed to think, and usually whenever he would need to think or vent he would go to one place.

The cemetary.

He had never told anyone but at least once a month he would make a point of visiting Jason's grave, he usually went to talk to Jason and even though he couldn't answer back it still felt like he was listening. He always felt as if he was cheated out of knowing one of his brothers. He was grateful to Dick, and he thought that Dick was the greatest big brother a person could ask for, he just wished he could've gotten to know Jason.

Two bus rides later he found himself walking through the entrance of the cemetary and he stopped in front of Jason's grave. Not once did he notice the figure that followed him.

"Hey Jason." Tim said sitting cross-legged, "I know that it's been awhile. Sorry about that, I've been swamped with all this stuff I've got going for the Young Justice, actually that's what I came to talk to you about. During one of our patrols last night, we met a new criminal, well he's new to me Batman seemed to know him pretty well. He won't tell me who he is, he actually took me off active duty. That's a sure sign that this guys serious, I know that he's just trying to protect me, but still you'd think after three years he would trust me a little more."

He paused and continued to look silently at the tombstone, "I guess he has his reasons doesn't he? He never really was the same after...after you died. Look Jason, you probably hate my guts and I know that I've already told you this, but I really want you to know that I wasn't trying to replace you. I never meant to, I was only trying to get Dick to come back to him, I tried to convince him that Batman needed a Robin,then all this other stuff happened, and well...here I am."

He gave a helpless shrug of his shoulders and had a regretful smile. "I really wish I had gotten to know you Jason. You were a great Robin, you and Dick both. I keep asking myself if I can ever live up to you guys, but that's not what's important in this job. What's important is that I'm there to keep Batman from crossing the line, I need to be there every time he forgets what he's fighting for. Just like you and Dick were."

"Well isn't this nice."

Tim turned around and found the same man he had confronted.

"You!" Tim immediately got into a defensive stance.

"Cool your jets Baby Bird." Red Hood said holding his hands up in defense. "I already kicked your butt once, I don't need to do it again."

"Why are you here?" Tim demanded.

"Eh." Red Hood gave a non-commital shrug, "Just thought I'd drop by visit my old roots, maybe visit my old grave."

That threw Tim in for a loop. "What?"

Red Hood narrowed his eyes. "You really don't know? Ouch, guess the old Bat is still reeling from our last meeting."

"Who are you?" Tim demanded.

Before Red Hood could answer a batarrang came flying in his direction, and he expertly dodged it. When he looked back up Nightwing was standing in front of Tim protectively.

"Stay away from him!" Dick snarled.

"Well isn't this something." Jason said tilting his head, "All three Robins in the same place at once."

Tim's eyes widened once he realized what he meant.

"What?" he asked, not really believing it.

"You oughta fill him in Dicky-boy." Red Hood grabbed a couple of smoke bombs, "Turns out the old man isn't as trusting as he used to be. Too bad it took my death for him to get to that point."

Then he looked in Tim's direction, "See you around kid."

He threw the smoke bombs down and he disappeared in a flash of light.

Both Tim and Dick shielded their arms from the light, once they were lowered Dick looked back at Tim and crouched to his level putting his hands on his shoulders.

"You ok Tim" he asked worriedly checking him for any injuries.

"Dick what was he talking about? What did he mean by the three Robins being together?"

Dick sighed, he knew he was in for a long night.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Batman, Young Justice, or it's characters.

* * *

"He shouldn't have been wandering off by himself!" Bruce was pacing the floor of the Batcave. When he had discovered Tim was missing his first instinct was to jump in the Batmobile and race through the streets looking for him, but just as he climbed into the car Nightwing had called in saying he found Tim and that they were on their way home.

"Of all the idiodic, irresponsible things to do-"

"Master Bruce," Alfred cut in before things could get ugly, "May I remind you that Master Timothy did leave a note telling us the specific time he would return. Not to mention you've never had a problem allowing him the freedom to wander the city unaccompanied before nightfall."

"It's different this time Alfred, and you know it!" Bruce snapped, "As long as the Red Hood is out there, the streets will never be safe for him to wander alone!"

Alfred quirked an eyebrow,"Perhaps if he were informed of the circumstances, he could understand the situation a bit better."

"Don't make this conversation about me." Bruce turned around facing his computer and punching a few keys.

"It wouldn't be necessary if you wouldn't continuously avoid the subject." Alfred crossed his arms. "The bottom line Master Bruce is that you need to tell him, and if you won't I will."

Bruce's eyes widened behind his cowl and he turned around to find a look of absolute seriousness. There were few times when Alfred would actually give Bruce an ultimatum, but once he did there was no turning back."

Before their conversation could continue the sound of a motorcycle echoed around the cave. Nightwing sped through with Tim clutching at his back. He screeched to a stop and turned off the engine. He took off his helmet and stalked towards Bruce with narrowed eyes and Tim following suit.

"We need to talk." Nightwing said bluntly.

"Okay would someone mind telling me what's going on?" Tim asked.

"Tim go to your room." Bruce ordered.

"No," Dick said, "He stays. He has every right to hear what's going on. We've kept this from him long enough."

"What are you guys talking about?" Tim said finally getting frustrated. "Would someone just tell me who this guy is? And how does he know our secret identities?"

"His name is Red Hood." Alfred said unexpectedly, "What's more, he is also Jason Todd risen from the grave."

Silence. Absolute Silence. Neither Bruce or Dick expected Alfred to be so blunt on the subject.

"What?" Tim finally whispered out.

"I shall leave the explainations to you and Master Dick." Alfred said straightening up his jacket. "If you'll excuse me, I must prepare dinner."

He quietly walked up the steps and out of the cave.

"What did he mean when he said Jason Todd risen from the grave?" Tim asked finally finding his voice. "He wasn't serious was he? He cant' be. Jason's dead, he's been dead for the past six years."

"He wasn't lying Tim." Dick said, "The guy that you met at the graveyard was actually Jason Todd."

"How is that possible?" Tim asked.

"Ra's Al Ghul." Bruce said finally giving up, "He dipped Jason's body into the Lazarus Pits. It brought him back to life, but the experience shattered his mind. He came back last year as the Red Hood, his mission was to take over the entire drug trade in Gotham, and he was willing to accomplish it at all costs."

"You're telling me that you've known about this for a year and you never told me." Tim said. "How could you not tell me?"

"It was nothing you should concern yourself over." Bruce replied.

"No concern over...Are you out of your mind!" Tim snapped raising his voice. "How in the hell am I not supposed to be concerned about this?"

"Tim." Dick tried reasoning with Tim, "We didn't want you to worry, you're still too young to understand-

"Wait, so let me get this straight," Tim interrupted, "I'm not too young to flip over buildings and stakeout crime-infested streets, I'm not too young to fight said criminals, and I'm not too young to go abroad to fight even more criminals. But I'm too young to find out that the guy who was Robin before me and is practically my brother in everything but blood was resurrected from the grave and went on a killing spree."

"It was for your own good." Bruce said with finality. As if that answer would justify his actions.

"You know what... I'm done." Tim said in a rare voice of defiance. "You don't want Robin around anymore, then fine. Consider this my resignation."

He took out his costume from his duffelbag and threw it at Bruce's feet, then he stormed up the steps of the cave.

"Tim!" Dick called, "Tim!"

His calls fell on deaf ears and the door to the cave slammed shut.

Dick looked back towards Bruce with his own glare. "Well now look what you've done Bruce!"

* * *

So apparently along with being a perfect Robin and a perfect son, turns out the kid had to be a damn respecting brother as well!

Jason was pacing the floor of his cave in agitation and kicked a crate which was in his way, he was perfectly prepared and happy to hate the kid, but then he had to go and pull a stunt like this! He had done a little more research on his computer and dug up some more videostream from satellites when he discovered that Tim would make monthly visits to Jason's grave and actually talk to him as if he was still there.

This was new to him, normally he was used to people either criticizing him or comparing him to Dick, but this kid never really mentioned Dick whenever he spoke to him, or rather his gravestone. He actually appeared to admire Jason, he always found some sort of compliment to give to him everytime he visited. He would normally talk about his patrols with Bruce or he would ask Jason for advice which he could never actually give. He even made sure that Jason's gravesight was neat and clean.

"Never meant to replace me?" he repeated to himself raising his voice with every word he spoke, "What kind of bullshit is that?"

His ranting was interrupted by the phone ringing, he answered it on the computer.

"What!" he snapped.

"Listen here you son of a bitch," an all-too familiar voice said, "I don't care how much manpower I'll need, I don't care about much money it will take, you cross me again...and I'll make sure that you don't come back a second time."

Red Hood scoffed, "Too little too late for that Black Mask. Enjoy whatever power you have left, because trust me when I say this I'll won't rest until you're on your hands and knees crippled in your business and begging me to end your pathetic excuse of a life.

"I'm looking forward to it."

Jason slammed the button on his computer to end the call, and clicked on a folder to open a picture of the new team Young Justice. There was Robin smiling in the middle with his four teammates; Kid Flash, Aqualad, Superboy and Miss Martian surrounding him.

His thoughts trailed back to the cemetary, then he remembered Robin telling him (technically his grave) that Batman had pulled him off duty, which meant he wouldn't have to deal with their Jr. Justice League or Young Justice, whatever they called it.

Secretly he was relieved, he didn't like going up against kids, especially ones who were so blinded by the Justice League's oh so glorious propaganda.

His eyes wandered once again to the youngest member. The kid just couldn't help but look like he _belonged _there. Another stab of envy hit him, Jason could never have fit in with a group like that. He had heard the whispers and rumors behind his back, too reckless they had said about him, too unstable.

Everyone had seen nothing but faults everytime they looked at him, no matter had well he did he was always compared to Dick by _everyone._

Everyone but this kid.

Jason sighed once again, and clicked the picture away, as long as the kid stayed out his way, he had nothing to worry about.

* * *

Tim had stalked all the way upstairs, not bothering to stop and answer Alfred's questions, and slammed the door to his room shut.

He flopped on his bed and buried his face into his pillow, gripping the edges very tightly and screaming all his rage into the pillow.

Alive. He couldn't believe it...Jason was alive! He didn't know what to feel about it, but before he could dwell on it any longer his comunnicator beeped. He answered it quickly.

"Hello?"

"Robin," Superboy's voice crackled on the other line, "Can you talk? Are you by yourself?"

Tim merely sighed into the comm, suddenly exhausted by the days events. "Yeah Kon, I'm alone."

"What's wrong?" Conner asked immediately sensing Tim's distress.

"Nothing, I just found out who our crook was." Tim's voice was starting to gain a bitter tone.

"In the worse way possible." he added in a smaller voice

"That's actually what I called about," Superboy explained, "Megan and Kaldur dug up whatever they could about this guy, apparently he calls himself the Red Hood, he was a big drug dealer in Gotham about a year ago, taking up whatever territory he could find, then he disappeared out of nowhere."

"I know." Tim repeated.

"You don't seem too happy about it." Superboy said sensing Robin's anxiousness yet again.

"I'm not," Tim confirmed, "I'm everything but happy, I actually just quit being Robin."

_"WHAT!" _Conner shouted so loudly Tim actually had to pull his ear away from the communicator.

"What the hell do you mean you quit?" Conner shouted into the communicator, "What did that arrogant, self-righteous _sonofabat_ do now!"

"It's just...look Conner this thing with the Red Hood just got personal, I mean _really _personal." Tim explained, "It's actually started putting my relationship with Batman into perspective now. I just need time to think."

"Robin you can't quit," Conner insisted, "You know how much we depend on you. You can't just walk out on us."

Tim gripped the communicator in his hand tightly, "I'm not walking out on you guys, believe me. I don't want to do this but right now...I'm sorry Kon, but this is something I need to do, I'll be back, I just need to work this out with Batman."

Suddenly he heard a knock on the door, to soft to be Bruce, "I gotta go, I'll talk to you later."

"Robin Wait!"

"Bye." Tim hung up before Conner could finish his sentence just as the door opened. Dick cautiously peeped his head in the doorway.

"Hey, Can I come in?"

Tim shrugged his shoulders indifferently, "I guess."

Dick entered the room dressed in his civilian clothes; black pants, a dark blue shirt, with a black jacket.

"Look I know you're upset," Dick began and sat on the bed next to Tim, who pointedly looked away from Dick, "You have every right to be, but you didn't have to quit being Robin."

"How could he not tell me?" Tim asked finally looking up at Dick.

Dick nearly recoiled from the look in Robin's eyes, he expected to see confusion, accusation, even anger.

Instead he saw nothing but hurt and utter betrayl reflecting in Tim's eyes. He looked every bit the thirteen-year-old child he was all he could do not to take his little brother into his arms and hug him tightly begging for forgiveness.

"How could he not tell me?" Tim asked again in a stronger voice, the hurt evident in his voice, "How could _you _not tell me? You knew this whole time and didn't tell me."

"Tim please," Dick begged gripping Tim's shoulders fiercely but not daring to do more than that. "Please try to understand, it's not that we don't trust you, it's anything but that. We only meant to protect you. I was a coward and convinced myself that you would handle it better if Bruce told you, I thought that once everything settled down he would've told you everything. I know now that it was wrong, we should've told you everything."

"Why didn't you?" Tim persisted, "Why didn't you guys tell me?"

Dick sighed and ran one of his hands through his hair, while keeping the other on Tim's shoulder. "We were trying to protect you. I know that reason doesn't seem satisfying enough, and it doesn't justify what we did but it's the truth. We knew that once we told you, you would've done everything in your power to find him."

"And that's a bad thing?" Tim asked.

"Tim you don't understand." Dick insisted, "You didn't know Jason like we did, and you weren't there last year, a fact which I am really thankful for. Bruce wasn't kidding when he said that the Pits shattered his mind, when Jason came back he renounced everything Bruce taught him and followed his own rules. Rules which included killing anyone who got in his way while he tried to gain control of Gotham's crimelords. Can you imagine how he would've reacted if he found out about you last year?"

"You think he would've killed me?" Tim asked, "He had a chance to kill me last night, and at the graveyard but he didn't."

"That doesn't matter." Dick stated, "For all we know he's plotting right now on different ways to get to you."

As Tim was listening, he thought quietly to himself. He didn't know why but somehow he just knew that Jason wasn't going to hurt him. Not in the immediate future anyway.

"Tim." Dick noticed that Tim wasn't listening. "Tim."

Tim jolted out of his stupor and looked up at Dick, "What?"

"Please Tim, even though you're angry at him and at me, but please don't go anywhere alone from now on." Dick asked, "We can talk more about this tonight-

"I'm not going back to being Robin," Tim interrupted, knowing what Dick meant when he said 'tonight', "I was being serious when I quit."

"Tim-

"No!" Tim cut in sharply, "Bruce went too far when he kept this from me! You both did! You keep telling me I need to understand, but you guys have to understand what you just did to me!"

Tim shrugged off Dick's hand and stood to his full height and looked at Dick straight in the eyes, "You hurt me Dick, you and Bruce actually _hurt_ me. I never thought that was possible. You guys keep telling me how important it is to trust one another, but you betrayed my trust when you kept this secret from me."

Dick stood up and tried to hug Tim, "Tim please." he begged.

For the first time in his life, Tim actually pushed Dick away.

"Get out." he said in a rough voice, "Get out of my room."

Still reeling from shock, Dick complied with his wishes and left his room.

Once he heard the door, Tim collapsed on his bed hugging himself and finally let the tears fall.

* * *

"Uhh, what are you doing?" Bart asked as he saw Conner packing a small knapsack in his room. He was eating a large bag of chips.

"I'm going to Gotham."

"Why?" Bart asked now more confused than ever.

"None of your business!" Conner snapped, shouldering his knapsack.

He grabbed his brown leather jacket and stalked out of the room. He bumped into Wally to get out.

"Well excuse me!" Bart huffed.

"Megan!" Conner called, "Megan!"

Megan quickly came out running. "What's wrong?"

"I need a ride to Gotham." Conner explained.

"Why are you going to Gotham?" Megan asked raising an eyebrow.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that!" Conner said exaperatedly, throwing one arm into the air.

"What's going on?" Aqualad came in once he heard the commotion in the kitchen.

"Supey's going to Gotham and he won't tell us why" Bart piped as he zoomed into the kitchen, eating yet another bag of chips.

Kaldur looked towards Conner with a look that clearly asked for an explanation.

Conner sighed in defeat. "It's Robin."

Everyone was instantly on alert.

"What's wrong? Is he hurt?" Kaldur immediately asked.

"He quit." Superboy explained.

"Wait, What!" Bart's jaw actually dropped allowing the chips he was eating to fall out of his math.

"My words exactly."

"What do you mean he quit?" Megan asked.

"It's just like I said," Superboy growled finally losing his patience, "He got into some fight with Batman about this Red Hood guy and now he's quit."

"So you're going back to convince him come back?" Megan queried.

"No, I'm going to Gotham to snap Batman's head off, and then I'm going to make him come back." Superboy explained in a somewhat calm voice.

"As much as I would love to see that," Bart said, "I'm pretty sure you can't snap Batman's head off, not to mention Robin wouldn't be very happy with you if you did."

"I'm sure Robin had a very good reason for quitting." Megan said, trying to be the voice of reason.

"I don't care!" Superboy growled. "I'm not going to let him quit, he's coming back if I have to drag him out of Gotham kicking and screaming."

"I'm sure it won't have to come to that." Kaldur said, "We'll all go."

"I don't need-

"Superboy, I know how much you care about Robin, but you are not the only one who does." Kaldur said in a sharp voice, "He is our teammate as well, and we are not going to give him up so easily."

"Got that right!" Bart agreed.

"Absolutely." Megan said.

Superboy knew it would be pointless to argue. "Fine."

"Alright everyone." Megan clapped her hands together. "To the BioShip!"

She led the way with Bart, as usual not far behind her. Aqualad and Superboy followed them at a slower pace.

"Don't worry." Aqualad said in a comforting tone, "I'm sure he'll come back."

"Damn right he will."

But even though his words were strong and sure, his mind was nowhere near that strong and sure. His mind was wandering.

_'What if he doesn't come back?'_ he thought. _'What if he never comes back?'_

_'No!'_ he scolded himself,_'He will come back. He _has_ to!'_

Deep in his subconcious, the six words he could never admit to himself formed. _'I can't lose my best friend.'_

_

* * *

_

Okay...whaja think?

read n review plez!

I'm serious...REVIEW!

I will try to put it in terms that you can understand.

no review=no update

capice.

Please review.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, or Young Justice

* * *

Tim didn't come down for dinner that night. Neither Bruce or Dick tried to convince him otherwise, especially with Alfred's warning.

"The lad needs time to himself." he had said in a firm voice, "Neither of you will disturb him."

He had brought up a tray for him, but discovered that Tim was asleep. He set the tray down and draped a blanket over Tim, then he quietly walked out of the room. When he came back down he saw Bruce and Dick's empty plates on the table. He merely sighed and began to clear the table.

_'I hope you will rectify the situation soon Master Bruce,' _Alfred thought, _'I don't believe Batman can afford to lose another Robin.'_

_

* * *

_

_(Meanwhile in Gotham's East End)_

"Damn that godforsaken piece of shit!" Black Mask threw his desk away from him. His assistant Ms. Li barely dodged it. "He was in a building that exploded from the inside out! How in the hell is he still alive?"

Ms. Li straightened her glasses, "The bombs that were planted within the building were probably faulty, although they caused excessive damage to the building, there was minimal damage done to both the Batman and the Joker."

"Well what are you going to do about it huh!" Black Mask snarled as he threw various glass objects against the wall, "I'm barely making endsmeet as it is! If the Red Hood screws up even one more of my operations that's it! I'm finished!"

"I assure you sir, we are taking all of the necessary precautions needed in order to secure your holdings." Ms. Li stated looking down at her clipboard., "As of right now I've placed all of your exporting and importing transactions on hold until the Red Hood is no longer a threat."

"And how do you propose we do that!" Black Mask snapped flailing his arms in agitation, "He's like a cockroach, no matter what we did or who we sent he was able to fight off anything we threw at him last year. How are we gonna take him down now!"

"Oh that's very simple." An eerie voice said.

Both Ms. Li turned around to find the Joker casually walking through the doorway. "You should really get better security Blacky, those guys barely gave me a challenge."

All of Black Masks bodyguards had their guns drawn and pointed them at the Joker, but before they could fire the Joker opened his hand to reveal a detonator.

"Ah ah ah." He wagged his finger, "Let's not do anything rash."

Black Mask held his arm in a dismissive motion and the men put their guns down.

"What do you want freak?" Black Mask growled.

"Now is that anyway to greet an old friend." Joker said in mock hurt.

"Give me a reason," Black Mask asked, "Give me a reason why I shouldn't let my guys here blow your brains out."

"Well," The Joker tilted his head and held his chin as if he were in deep thought, "Other than the fact that I have this entire place rigged to explode with a press of a button...I may have a solution to your little problem."

"Last time I cut a deal with you, you threw me inside a truck and tried to set me on fire." Black mask growled with narrowed eyes.

"Bah, that was such a long time ago." Joker waved his hand carelessly, "Why don't we let bygones be bygones. Besides I have a surefire way on how to get rid of the Batman and the Red Hood."

"And how can you possibly gurantee that?" Black masked crossed his arms.

"Because Blacky, I hold a very important piece of information." The Joker started waving his hands in dramatic gestures as he spoke.

"And what's that?"

The Joker's face nearly split in two as he smiled his all-too familiar grotesque smirk. "I know the Batman's secret identity.

* * *

The Young Justice members were unusually quiet as they rode to Gotham. Their ETA at Gotham would be somewhere between the times 9-10AM in the morning.

Most of them were asleep, but Superboy stayed awake, he was staring out the window lost in his thoughts.

His mind was wandering to the day he became friends with Robin.

_(Flashback)_

_The team was doing another Recon mission in the outerskirts of Brazil and they decided to split up. It had been about two weeks since their mission to Santa Prisca, but the League was stetched too thin so they had no choice but to sent the Young Justice members. During the mission they split into two groups, Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Kid Flash in one group, and Robin and Superboy in the other. Aqualad's team was going to investigate with the locals, while Robin and Superboy would check out the warehouses of the companies in charge of the mining. During one of their investigations Robin discovered that the largest mining industry was cutting a deal with Lex Luthor, but the notes didn't specify what they were mining._

_Now both of them were trapped in a cavern within the mines that was set to explode. They were caught and chased down by a mob of the workers. Superboy wanted to engage in a battle, but Robin pointed out that they needed to rendezvouz back with the team, and engaging them in a fight would further compromise their cover than in already was. Superboy reluctantly agreed. They ran into the forest and into the cavern where they thought it would be safe, but once they were fifty feet in they heard the incessant beeping of explosives, more importantly explosives that were about to go off. _

_"Get Down!" Superboy had yelled. Robin immediately crouched down and covered his head with his arms. Superboy covered Robin's body with his own and shielded him as best as he could when the explosion occured. Once the smoke cleared, Superboy got up and held his hand out to Robin._

_"You ok?" he asked as he pulled Robin up._

_"Yeah." Robin answered he tried to use his communicator. All he got was static. "Communications are down."_

_Superboy tried communication telepathically, "I can't get to Megan."_

_He then walked toward the wall of dirt, rocks, and debris and punched at it, expecting it to crumble down. Instead he felt a searing pain in his fist and he looked down surprised to find his knuckles bleeding and blue rocks imbedded in his hand. He was pretty sure his hand was broken too._

_"What the heck?" Superboy asked himself. He was about to punch at the wall again, but Robin quickly stopped him. "Don't! We don't know what's wrong with you, we don't need you causing any more damage to yourself."_

_Suddenly Robin noticed a blue crystal on the floor, he crouched down and picked it up. He scanned it with his glove and his eyes widened when he realized what the crystal was._

_"Blue Kryptonite." Robin deduced, "No wonder Lex Luthor was so interested in this mining area."_

_Superboy raised an eyebrow, "What are you talking about?"_

_Robin looked at Superboy in surprise, "You mean you don't know? Didn't Cadmus ever inform you about Kryptonite?"_

_Superboy shook his head._

_"Kryptonite is a crystal that was native to Superman's planet Krypton, it's the one thing on earth that can actually hurt Superman." Robin explained standing up. "So far I know about Green, Red, Silver, Black, and Blue."_

_"What does the Blue Kryptonite do?" Superboy asked._

_"It takes away a Kryptonian's power, it makes them as vulnerable as a human." Robin looked around the caverns walls and saw that there was Blue Krytonite imbedded in the walls._

_"This is not good." Robin said, "If Luthor gets ahold of this, there's no telling what damage he can do to you and Superman."_

_Superboy found himself shocked by Robin's words, he was never accustomed to the fact that anyone would be concerned for his well-being._

_Robin suddenly noticed Superboy's hand, "We need to bandage that up, let me see your hand."_

_Reluctantly Superboy held his hand out to Robin, who took it and examined it._

_"This might hurt, but I need you to keep your hand still." Robin then proceeded to gently press on Superboy's hand. Superboy winced once his fingers pressed on the broken bones, but he didn't pull his hand away. (A/N Sorry people no slash in this fic. So get your minds outta the gutter!)_

_Robin looked around and saw a piece of wood on the floor that would make a good splint. He picked it up and turned to Superboy. "I'm going to reset your hand and splint it, but it's going to be painful."_

_Superboy nodded and braced himself. Once Robin got the Krytonite out of his hand he started to reset it, it hurt but not as much as he thought. Once he was done setting the bones, he pressed the wood against his hand and bandaged it up._

_"You do this like you've had a lot of practice." Superboy stated, observing Robin's professional work. _

_Robin gave a careless shrug, "When you're Batman's partner, you learn to do this kind of stuff. Especially with creeps like Joker, and Two Face."_

_"He doesn't seem like the kind of person who could become a mentor." Superboy said._

_"People can surprise you." Robin replied finishing his wrapping._

_"He's certainly a better option than _some _people." Superboy said bitterly._

_"You talking about Superman again?"_

_Superboy clenched his fists. "I just don't get it! Why? Why does he continue to ignore me? What did I do that was so wrong!"_

_Robin sighed, he knew that Superboy was upset by Superman's indifference to him. "It's not you Superboy, it's not. I know that he's being a jerk now but trust me, he's going to come around."_

_"What makes you so sure!" Superboy snapped._

_"Hey come on," Robin waved his hands up defensively, "Do you really think Batman wanted me around at first. It took him over a year to finally accept me as his partner. Even then, he still wouldn't trust me at first, he always told me to stay behind or wait in the car."_

_"You actually listened to him?" Superboy raised his eyebrow._

_"What do you think?"_

_"Right." Superboy hung his head. He leaned against the wall and sank to the ground._

_"I don't know Robin," Superboy said. Robin was a bit surprised by the doubt and uncertainty in his voice. "Did you see his face when he first looked at me? He looked at me like I was some sort of abomination, and he didn't even stick around long enough to find out what they were going to do with me. And now? He avoids me whenever he can."_

_Robin sat next to him on the ground and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know. I'm really sorry he's acting that way, but try to see it from his point of view. How would you feel if someone had cloned you? How would you feel knowing that Cadmus could so easily gather your DNA and use it for God knows what purpose?"_

_"That still doensn't make it right." Superboy said._

_"I know," Robin said, "And trust me, Batman tears him a new one every chance he gets."_

_Superboy smiled a bit at that, then went back to a frown. "You know what the worst part is? I don't even have a name. How can I truly be a part of the team, if I don't even have a name."_

_Robin smiled "I guess we're just going to have to fix that then." _

_He grabbed a plank of wood and began writing on the dirt. Superboy looked on in confusion as he began writing different words._

_Clone_

_Superman_

_Kr_

_Kal-El_

_"Kal-El?" Superboy asked._

_"Superman's Kryptonian name," Robin explained, "But don't tell him I told you that."_

_Robin appeared to be contemplating the words, then he circled 'Clone' and 'Kr'_

_Then his face brightened as he switched the first letters of the words, so now they were 'Cr', and 'Klone'._

_"I don't get it." Superboy asked, wanting Robin to get to the point of why he was doing this._

_"Your new name." Robin said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Well, technically you have two new names."_

_"I still don't get it." Superboy repeated. _

_"Watch this." Robin said. He began to rearrange the words of Klone. _

_They now spelled, 'Kon-El'_

_"That's your new Kryptonian name." Robin explained. "Now I'm trying to think of a name that starts with 'C' and ends with 'r'."_

_Robin then snapped his fingers. "I've got it!" _

_He then wrote another name. 'Conner'_

_"There!" he said triumphantly, "Those are your names, 'Conner' and 'Kon-El'"_

_For a moment Superboy was silent, as the silence continued Robin grew worried._

_"What's wrong?" he asked, "You don't like them?"_

_"No!" Superboy said quickly, "No, it's not that! It's just...I'm surprised you actually put this much thought into finding a name for me, let alone two."_

_Robin grinned, "What are friends for?"_

_That was the first time anyone had acknowledged him as a friend. Of course Megan and Aqualad had always assured him that he was a valued member of the team, but they had never actually called him a friend. _

_"Yeah." Conner said, "Friends."_

_Suddenly the cavern started to shake violently. Debris began flying all over the place and Conner and Robin used their arms to cover themselves from the debris. Right when the shaking stopped both stood up very quickly._

_"What was that?" Superboy said. _

_"It might be an earthquake." Robin said, "They're pretty common around here. Let's hope another one won't happen because if it does then the whole cavern could collapse right on top of us."_

_The cavern started shaking again, and Superboy held a hand to Robin's shoulder to keep him from falling._

_'Robin', a voice said in their heads. 'Superboy are you there.'_

_Robin wasted no time, 'Megan, we're trapped in a cavern two hundred meters from the warehouse you assigned us. Superboy's powers are compromise and we can't ge t out. We've been here about two hours."_

_"Got it." Megan said, 'Just hang in there guys, we're almost there.'_

_Ten minutes later Megan spoke to them again. 'Guy's Aqualad's going to use his water to break the wall down, brace yourselves against a wall._

_Both did as they were told but Superboy made sure that Robin was behind him first._

_A burst of water blew through the wall, and pretty soon the wall disentigrated. Megan, and the others rushed to their teammates._

_"Are you guys ok?" she asked them. She suddenly noticed Superboy's bandaged hand and gasped in horror._

_"Superboy what happened to your hand?"_

_"Blue Kryptonite." he said simply._

_Before she could ask any further Robin interrupted them. "We need to get in contact with the League right now. This is way to big for us."_

_Thirty minutes later the five teens were waiting outside the cavern while Flash, and Red Tornado were literally emptying the entire cavern. Batman was standing in front of the group analyzing their work._

_"You did well." he said. "Not only did you uncover the conspiracy by one of our most dangerous enemies, you've also saved Superman and the rest of the League from facing this plot unprepared. Not to mention your teamwork was outstanding."_

_The team was shocked, usually Batman would always give some form of criticism with their evaluation but he had not said one single bad thing about their mission. That actually sort of scared them._

_Superman suddenly flew down next to Batman. "I heard about what had happened. Why didn't you contact me?"_

_"Because anytime you hear Lex Luthor's name you grow careless with your work and your only focus is to bring him down, no matter what the cost." Batman said harshly._

_Flash suddenly zoomed in. "Alright Batz, got every last bit of Blue Kryptonite. There's no way Luthor will get to it now."_

_"Good." Batman said, then he looked towards Robin and Superboy, then noticed Superboy's wrapped hand._

_"What happened?" he asked._

_"It was the Blue Kryptonite." Superboy said raising his hand. Superman perked and actually paid attention to Superboy, "It was in the cavern and got into my hand when I tried to punch my way out, but Robin got it out."_

_"Are you alright?" Superman asked. _

_Superboy gave glared in Superman's__ direction and almost ignored him, but he decided it wasn't worth it._

_"I'm fine." he flexed his hand instinctively and was surprised to find no pain. He took off the bandange and the splint to find it completely healed._

_"Your hand probably healed itself when you got out of the cavern." he explained. "You and Robin both did good work, Superboy."_

_"Conner."_

_Bruce raised an eyebrow behind his cowl. "What?"_

_"Conner." Superboy repeated in a firmer voice, "That's my name, it's Conner."_

_"Fine, Conner then." Batman said. "You five get back to Mount Justice and rest, you've earned it."_

_The group did as they were told and boarded the Bioship. For once, Superboy didn't look back to Superman, it was that day he no longer cared what Superman thought about him. _

_(End Flashback)_

From that day on, Superboy's only loyalty was to Robin. Of course, he was loyal to the team, and he would die for any one of them, but if he had to make a choice as to who he would side with or protect at all costs it was Robin. It would always be Robin.

He looked outside and he was surprised to find the sun up, he had been brooding longer than he thought. He looked at the clock and saw that they would arrive in Gotham in about thirty minutes.

His fists clenched on the seats, _'Hang on Robin.' _he thought, _'We're almost there.'_

_

* * *

_

Okay a few explanations, I'm basing my Kryptonite knowledge on what I've seen from Smallville.

Ms. Li was the lady who was always with Black Mask in Under the Red Hood, and when Jason was fighting with Bruce, he said to him "Bruce I forgive you." and Joker was in the closet when he said that so it's a possibility that he overheard.

So anyway please review and let me know what you think.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, or Young Justice

I should probably mention Artemis won't be here. It'll just be the original five members. Plus Speedy (Red Arrow) and Nightwing.

I hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Tim woke up with a splitting head-ache. It took him a moment to remember what had happened last night and he groaned as he sat up and stretched. It didn't surprise him that Bruce didn't come up to wake him for patrol last night. Whenever a big fight occured he would bury himself in work in order to avoid it. He noticed a tray of food and felt a surge of gratitude towards Alfred. He was always looking out for him.

He got up and made thehis bed and went to get ready for the day. After he showered and changed(Which consisted of his usual outfit of black pants, jacket, and green hoodie, along with his trademark shades) he picked up the tray and carried it downstairs. He put the dishes in the sink and began to wash them. Once he was finished he noticed a note on the counter, he picked it up and realized it was a note from Alfred.

_Master Tim,_

_I have gone to the supermarket for grocery shopping. Afterwards I may have other matters to attend, I shall be home in a matter of three hours._

_-Alfred_

Tim smiled at the note. Alfred was always so punctual and considerate with them. He looked towards the clock and saw that it was 12:00 pm, he then realized he was alone in the Manor. Bruce had no doubt gone off to work and Dick probably went back to Bludhaven.

Tim frowned the thought of Dick and Bruce brought him back to the previous night's events. While others may have thought his resignation was an overreaction, he honestly didn't know how else to react. If he was completely honest with himself; he didn't think he could trust Bruce on the field again.

He wasn't sure if he could trust Bruce _ever_.

He gave a sigh of frustration and ran his hands through his hair. So many emotions were running through him: confusion, anger, betrayl, but most of all...just hurt. He didn't know what to do!

Before he could dwell on his thoughts any longer a familiar voice echoed in his head.

_'Robin.' it said, 'Robin are you there?'_

"Megan?" he said aloud.

_'Oh thank Mars!' her voice was overcome with relief. 'I wasn't sure if my telepathic range could reach you.'_

_'What do you mean?' Tim asked telepathically. 'Where are you?'_

_'Gotham city.' Megan answered, 'The whole team is here. Here, I'll patch them through.'_

_'Megan wait!' Tim thought. Too late, his head was suddenly bombarded with several different voices at once_

_'Robin are you alright?' Kaldur asked._

_'Dude! What were you thinking?' Wally added._

_'If you think we're going to let you quit the team you've got another thing coming!' Superboy growled._

"Okay everyone stop!" Tim shouted waving his hands uselessly, forgetting that no one could see him.

The others complied by staying completely silent.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and shut his eyes in frustration.

_'Okay, I know that you guys have a lot of questions, and I owe you an explanation. Just...meet me at the Gotham Plaza.' Tim thought. 'I'm sending you the directions_.'

He sent a telepathic picture of the Plaza, he couldn't very well explain to them what was going on in the Manor.

_'I'll be there in a few minutes'_

Before his teammates could say anything else to him, he cut off their connection. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty, even though he had been working with the team for almost three months he still wasn't allowed to tell them his secret identity, but he understood. As angry as he was with Bruce he knew that if he had told any of them his name, Bruce's identity would be compromised as well and he had a whole lot more to lose.

He ran to his room to get his skateboard and his Flash cell-phone. He ran back down to the kitchen and wrote a quick note for Alfred explaining where he was going to be, and then walked out the door.

* * *

Megan placed her Bioship in Camoflauge and at resting mode in a secluded greenfield. The team had decided to walk to the plaza so they wouldn't be so conspicuous.

"Uh, Meg" Wally said. "No offense, but green skin is a little conspicuous."

"Hello Megan!" she did her trademark face palm and changed the color of her skin to look more human. She was about as light as Bart now.

"Does anyone even know where this Plaza is?" Conner asked.

"I do." Bart answered, "Flash and I have made enough trips here to know our way around."

Aqualad nodded, "We should hurry. Something tells me that there is more going on here than meets the eye.

With that said the others followed Bart into the city.

* * *

He was whistling happily to himself as he walked up the steps of the private helicopter pad. He noticed a patio tent witha table, some chairs and a luxury bench under it. He plopped himself on the bench and made himself comfortable. The Black Mask knew how to treat a friend (or someone who threatened his very life). He opened the pocketwatch and even though it was still early in the day he wanted to know the exact time.

12:30 pm.

Seven and a half hours his men had left. He had given them a deadline, but didn't tell them the consequences if they didn't finish the job in time. He never specified what would happen if they didn't find him, he liked it when they got nervous.

Initially, the Black Mask demanded that he tell him the Batman's identity. Of course he changed his mind quickly when he detonated one of the bombs in the building as a warning. He began to laugh manically as he remember the dead bodies that were sprawled in the room. After that Black Mask was pretty content in being kept out of the loop. He just did as the Joker had asked; which included the thugs and the transportation.

He had hired at least thirty of them. They were told to dress up as clowns and perform in the streets of Gotham. He had given each and every one of them a picture of who they were meant to find. If he didn't show up after six they were meant to cause a scene in order to get their attention. He was sure that he would show, he had been around Batman for far too long to leave his city undefended.

He looked towards the helicopter that Black Mask had arranged for him. He could get used to this lifestyle; maybe once he was done playing around with the Bat he could get into more serious business.

But first...

He took out the original picture from his jacket pocket. A young boy of thirteen with black shades.

Figuring out Batman's identity wasn't hard. Once he overheard their conversation in the closet last year, all he had to do was narrow down his search for every Bruce and Jason in Gotham city.

Jason Todd and Bruce Wayne. Those were the only two Jason and Bruce in Gotham City that were connected with one another. Not to mention the Jason and Robin death dates were too close to be a coincidence.

Joker smirked as he crumpled up the picture. He was going to be having a lot of fun with the youngest of the Bats.

He couldn't wait to see Batman's reaction.

* * *

Getting to the Plaza by skateboard, along with two bus rides took about forty-five minutes. He had finally reached his destination at around 12:45, he found the fountain and saw that his friends weren't there yet. He took a seat on the fountain and simply waited.

The place was crowded, it was the usual groups. Either young couples, family outings, or cliques of friends. There was one new thing: Clowns, .at least ten were in the courtyard alone. A couple of them gave him leering glances. He inwardly shuddered. He never did like clowns

It was another fifteen minutes before he spotted his friends, all in their trademark civilian clothes. Conner and Kaldur were the easiest to spot, seeing how they were the tallest. Trailing behind them were Bart and a human-looking Megan. Once they saw Robin, they immediately ran towards him.

Megan immediately greeted him with a hug. "Thank goodness you're alright. We were so worried about you."

After she released him, Bart grabbed him in a headlock and started giving him a high-speed noogie. "Dude, don't you go scaring me like that again!"

"Dude, Get off!" Tim said, shoving him off and quickly fixed his hair, which had started to smoke.

"You left in quite a hurry." Kaldur said.

"So don't even try getting out of this one. Start talking." Conner demanded.

Before Tim could even open his mouth, another outburst from Bart interrupted them.

"The new video arcade! This arcade just opened last week! They're supposed to have all the newest games around. Come on let's go!"

He grabbed Megan's hand and sped of towards the arcade. Kaldur, Conner, and Tim were left in the dust. Tim immediately saw an opening.

"As long as we're here, we might as well enjoy ourselves." Tim suggested.

"I don't know..." Kaldur trailed off.

"You guys came all this way here without permission, you might as well enjoy whatever freedom we're going to have." Tim persisted, he gave Kaldur a playful shove. "Come on, I'll show you guys around."

"Kaldur!" Megan called out, "They have a game based on Atlantis! Come see!"

His interest piqued, he walked over towards Megan and allowed himself to be dragged away.

Before Tim could join them a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked back to see Conner gazing hard at him.

"I'm not as easily distracted as the others." he said, "Tell me what's going on Robin."

Tim sighed, "I will, just please let me have some fun first. This is probably the last time I'll ever be able to enjoy a day out with you guys for a long time."

Conner softened.

"I promise, I'll tell you guys everything tonight." He meant it, he wouldn't go into details but he would at least tell them about Jason.

"Fine." Conner sighed and he wrapped his arm around Robin's shoulder. "Come on, let's catch up with the others."

As they were walking to meet up with their friends they failed to see the extra pair of eyes following their every move. He ran towards a secluded alley and whipped out his cell-phone and dialed a familiar number.

"What is it?"

"We found him Boss." The clown whispered in the phones. "He's at the Gotham Plaza."

"Wonderful." Joker squealed.

"Do we grab him now?"

"No no." Joker chided, "Let him have a little fun first, make sure he enters a false sense of security. Grab him later on tonight, but make sure you're here before eight. You know what happens if you're not."

The line went dead.

The clown took a deep shuddering breath as he pocketed his phone. He didn't know what would happen, and he didn't want to find out.

* * *

Batman was quickly typing furiously on his computer in the lab. He had spent the morning closing deals and finalizing documents at WayneTech, then he spent the afternoon in the watchtower checking on leads and making updates on suspects.

He was so focused on his work he almost didn't hear the footsteps behind him.

Almost.

"What do you want?" he asked flatly not taking his eyes off of the computer.

"We need to talk." Green Arrow said.

"What do we need to talk about?" Batman continued to type.

"The League wants you off the drug trafficking case." Arrow wasted no time.

Bruce stopped typing altogether, he turned around and slowly faced Green Arrow.

"Excuse me?" he said in a soft but deadly voice.

Even though Batman's glares are known to stop an Ax-murderer dead in their tracks, Green Arrow did wasn't phased.

"You heard me."

"What gives you the right-

"You're too close to this Bruce." Green Arrow said, "Red Hood's involvment was confirmed last night, and we can't take any chances with you."

"His reappearance doesn't change anything. I can handle myself just fine." Batman snapped standing up to his feet.

"I'm not sure you can." Arrow said, "Roy told me everything that happened last night. What were you thinking taking Robin off of the team, and not telling him about Jason."

"How did Roy find out?" Bruce asked trying to avoid the subject.

"Dick."

Batman remained silent.

"You never told Tim?" Green Arrow asked, "You spent a whole year keeping this from him and he had to find out from Alfred."

"It was for the best." Bruce said.

"Best for who? Tim or you?" Green Arrow asked. "I know you Bruce. Whenever a bad experience comes along you bottle it up and keep it to yourself until it comes exploding in your face. You went too far this time, this time it wasn't just about you. Like it or not Tim is a part of it as well. Did you even tell him how Jason died?"

He was met with silence once again.

"You're kidding me." Green Arrow's eyes widened incredulously. "You never told him how Jason died?"

"This is none of your concern."

"Don't do this Bruce." Green Arrow's eyes softened. "Don't shut him out or push him away. Keeping secrets can break a partnership. Look at what happened to me and Roy."

"Tim is nothing like Roy." Batman snapped.

"Maybe not but everyone has their breaking point Bruce." Oliver sighed, "Take it from someone who knows, don't let this fester. If you ever want Tim to trust you again, you need to tell him everything and I mean _everything_."

He began to walk out but spared Bruce one last glance. "I'm barely on speaking terms with Roy. Ever since the incident on Independance day, he barely even spares me a glance when we see each other. Don't let that happen to you and Tim."

He walked out leaving Batman to ponder what he had just told him.

* * *

(Gotham Plaza 6:59 pm)

They were gathered around an outdoors table at a pizzeria, laughing at some mindless joke Bart made. Tim smiled as he looked at his friends faces and recalled the activities they had done together.

They had spent the day not as crime-fighting heroes, but as regular teenagers. They had played in the video arcade, gone to the cinema and browsed around all the shops. All in all it was a good day for Tim.

It started going downhill when the clowns appeared.

They seemed harmless enough when Bart pointed them out and ran off to get a closer look. The team hesitated for a minute before joining him, Tim made sure to pay the bill before he met with the others. There were about eight of them had appeared with balls and bowling pins and started to do simultaneous juggling. Four more appeared and started to make funny faces and blow up balloon animals for the shoppers. Four jugglers threw their balls into the air and they exploded in a shower of confetti. The crowd began to applaud and cheer. Tim began to notice more clowns showing up and he couldn't help but begin to feel uneasy. Just as he was about to tell the others a scream was piercing through the crowd.

He looked at the direction where the scream came from and saw one of the bushes on fire. Aqualad immediately called the team to action. "Megan, Conner, Bart, and Robin do crowd control. I will put out the fires." he whispered furiously in their ears. He ran towards the fountain and began to lift the water towards the flaming bush. Unfortunately fires began to break out all over the the Plaza forcing the team to split up.

Superboy had punched a hole in one of the walls and ushered people t the other side where Megan was helping them climb down the rubble. Bart was zooming across the area helping people who had collapsed or were pushed down while simultaneously trying to clear the smoke out with his speed. Aqualad was furiously trying to put out the fires that appeared to be popping out of nowhere.

without his utility belt, Robin couldn't do much but direct people on where to exit. He suddenly heard a man's voice calling out for help in an alleyway. He thought about calling one of his teammates for back-up but he heard the desperation in the call and quickly ran over in the direction where he heard the call and tried to answer.

"Hello!" he called. "Can you hear me?"

He began to violently cough as he went deeper in the alleyway, it was heavily clouded by smoke and he began to think that it was a bad idea coming alone. He tried one more time.

"Hello! Are you th-mmph!

He was silenced by a heavy hand that clamped over his mouth. Another arm snaked around his torso and pulled him against a heavy chest.

"Hank! You got the stuff?" His captor called out.

"Mmph! Mph!" Tim began to struggle fiercely against his captor, for a brief second the captor removed his hand from his mouth but before he could scream out a cloth was muffled against his mouth. He could smell the chlorophorm in the cloth and struggled even harder.

But after a moment his vision began to cloud and his struggles became weaker. Finally they stopped altogether as he slumped into his captor's arms.

"Took him long enough!" the clown growled as he threw Tim over his shoulder. "Let's get going, the Boss doesn't like to be kept waiting. Joey call the others off, we got what we came here for."

* * *

Aqualad had finally blown out the last of the flames. It was hectic and chaotic but it was finally over. As far as he could see there were no civilian casualties. He felt a prick in his mind and knew that Megan had opened a telepathic connection with the team.

_"Superboy and I are here." Megan said, "Is everyone alright?"_

_"I'm unharmed." Aqualad said._

_"Fit as a fiddle." Bart said._

_There was no response from Robin. _

_"Robin?" Aqualad queried. "Robin this is Aqualad do you read me?"_

Silence. He looked up and saw the rest of the team walking up to him Robin excluded.

"Have any of you seen him?" he asked.

His heart clenched as everyone shook their heads. He looked towards Megan. "Can you reach him telepathically?"

Megan frowned, "I'll try."

She closed her eyes in concentration and stood silently for a minute. "I...can't reach him. He's not answering any of my calls and I can't sense his prescence around."

Being an empath she could sense their panic rising.

"I'm sure he's fine." Megan said reassuringly, "My powers aren't always as reliable as Uncle J'onn. He's probably helping out some stragglers."

"If that were the case then why didn't he call us?" Superboy asked as he looked around.

"He doesn't like to ask for help." KF explained but he still looked uneasy.

"Kid Flash, zoom around the area. Find him." Aqualad ordered. "The rest of us will look around the courtyard.

Everyone did as they were told, not two minutes later though they were called by KF.

_"You guys need to come here. RIGHT NOW!"_ He practically screamed in their minds.

They all immediately followed Megan who was leading the way. The found Bart in an alleyway crouching with a cell phone in his hand. For once in his life he looked heartbroken.

"Bart?" Megan cautiously approached him.

"This is his phone." he said as he held the phone in his hand. "I remember being there and helping him pick it out. I told him to pick it out so he could get a gag from Batman. Boy did it work, but he still kept the symbol. He always told me that it reminded him of the day we became friends."

His hand was clenched around the phone. "He never leaves without this phone. Not even on our missions. He takes it with him everywhere he goes."

His and started to shake violently. Megan looked at Superboy and saw that his fists were clenched tight enough to draw blood. She shot a helpless look to Aqualad.

"Call the Leauge." he told her. "Do it right now."

* * *

The Joker was whistling as he poured himself another glass of champagne. He was sipping it as he saw four of the clowns he had hired, and they brought him what he asked for.

Frank, the leader who had Tm over his shoulder threw him down at the Joker's feet.

"Here he is." Frank said, "We took care o' the other clowns. Less shares to hand out."

The Joker began to gleefully clap his hands together. "Wonderful! Oh we're just going to have oodles of fun!"

"So where's the money?" Frank asked.

"Right. Follow me." The Joker led them to the Patio tent and opened a silver briefcase. His body blocked their view but when he turned around there was a .9 millimeter handgun in his hand. In two seconds he had shot every one of them dead.

"There's you reward, and keep the change." He put the gun in his pocket and closed the briefcase. There were nine shots of anethesia to keep the boy sedated during their trip. Hewalked back towards Tim and picked him up.

"Don't worry laddie." he cackled, "Uncle Jay will take good care of you."

He walked towards the helicopter and the pilot asked him where he was going.

"Bosnia." The Joker answered simply.

* * *

(Watchtower 8:00pm)

Batman was still in the computer lab, he was sore and his eyes were strained but he could still here the footsteps.

"If you're here to give me another lecture save your breath."

"Bruce."

The sound of Flash's voice had caused him to turn around. THe Flash had a rare look of sadness on his face.

"Bruce we need to go to Gotham." he said.

"I've been taken off the trafficking case remeber."

"It's Robin."

Bruce's blood ran cold and he was pretty sure his heart had stopped. Then the three most horrible words he could ever hear came out his mouth.

"Bruce, he's missing."

* * *

CLIFFY!

Come on guys I need some feedback! I'd really like to know how you like this story.

Under Red Hood References: Bosnia was where the Joker killed Jason in the movie. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

Closet: Both Bruce and Jason said their real names while Joker was in the closet so yes he did overhear that.

AN: All Tim was told was that Jason died in action. In my story he doesn't know about the Joker's involvement in Jason's murder.

Review Please!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or Young Justice.

Once again, I noticed mistakes and I had to correct them. For those of you who are just reading this, well you need not worry what i'm talking about.

* * *

Green Arrow was currently looking at four young teenagers, he couldn't help but feel a little sorry for them. All four were standing in line, but their eyes were downcast and their expressions filled with grief and self-hatred. He knew that they were blaming themselves for Robin's disappearance; Superboy and Kid Flash seemed to be taking it the hardest. However that didn't excuse them from what had just happened and he knew that he couldn't go easy on them. They went against direct orders and went to Gotham city, which had been claimed off-limits in the last briefing due to the fact that it was the heart of the drug trafficking case, and because of that one of their own was missing. Normally Batman would give the lectures, but...well he had more important things to do right now.

"What you did today was inexcusable." he said in a hard voice. "Not only did you leave the base without permission, but you went to Gotham, the place you were told specifically not to go to. You entered a crime-scene without alerting the League, and now because of your irresponsible actions, one of your teammates is missing."

They all visibly flinched when he mentioned Robin, he was pretty sure Miss. Martian was about to cry, he figured that they had suffered enough.

"Everyone return to your rooms, I can't even look at you right now."

With that said he turned his back and walked out of the room. Once the doors had wooshed closed he pressed hand against his eyes and leaned against a wall. He slid his hand down his face and lashed at he wall next to him. The wall was made out of solid concret and underlayed with steel and lead. It hardly left a mark but his hand was stinging.

This shouldn't have happened. None of those kids were supposed to be in danger, that's why they were placed on a team. So they could protect one another, but he couldn't blame them, they had been stretched too thin, there was no way they could've anticipated what had happened.

_'God.' he thought, 'He's just a kid. He's nothing but a kid, what will they hope to accomplish by taking him.'_

Actually, there was a lot they could accomplish. The usual goal would be to try and trap Batman. But Robin wasn't just some average kid, while most villains believed him to be nothing but Batman's sidekick, there were still some out there who could see his potential. A smart person would try to turn him against the League, and if they did, well Oliver wasn't sure that they would be able to stop him. No matter what the circumstances, they would never resort to lethal force, and Tim knew at least twenty-two different styles of martial arts, and he was an expert hacker, so he would be able to match any moves they threw at him, and he was very capable of crippling the League's networking systems. All in all, if Robin were turned, it could possibly mean the very end of the Justice League.

Tim was by far the best young hero he had ever seen. He was smarter than Bruce, more experienced than any of the other sidekicks, and he knew how to think on his feet. No matter what the situation was Tim would never panic, after all being trained by Batman, there probably wasn't much out there he could be afraid of.

But still... he was only thirteen years old. No matter how good he was he was still a thirteen-year old child, as headstrong as he was he was nowhere near invincible. He would be vulnerable to any type of torture they would give him and while he would be resistant at first there was only so much pain a person could take.

He could only pray to God that they find him soon.

* * *

(Bludhaven)

Nightwing and Red Arrow were scouting in one of the rougher neighborhoods, commonly known as the BludSlums, checking out for any drug traffickers.

"We've been here over three hours, how much longer do we have to wait?" Roy asked impatiently.

"If there's one thing you learned from Batman, it's that patience is a virture." Nightwing answered the younger hero with a smile.

Before Roy could make a retort back, Nightwing's commpiece started to beep in his ear and he held up a hand to silence him.

"Nightwing here."

"You need to come home." Bruce''s voice came in, "Now."

Dick was still a little peeved at Bruce with the whole Tim fiasco. "I don't know if now is such a good time Batman. I'm kinda busy at the moment with Red Arrow."

"Dick, it's Tim." Bruce said.

Dick paused for a minute. "What do you mean? What happened?"

"He's missing."

After that Nightwing shut off his comm and broke off into a run, heading towards the motorbike he had parked, ignoring the calls he heard from Red Arrow.

Just as Red Arrow was about chase after Nightwing and give him a piece of his mind, his own comm started to go off.

"What is it?" he snapped.

"Roy, we need you back at Mt. Justice." Green Arrow's vioice said.

Roy gave a scoff, "If this is about joining that mini-league again my answer is still no."

"Roy _please_, this team needs you right now." Green Arrow's voice had taken a desperate, begging tone to it. It wasn't something he had ever heard from his old mentor, and he wasn't sure he liked it, but that didn't mean he would cave in.

"Look whatever it is I'm sure Robin and the others can handle it." Roy said.

"Roy... Robin's missing."

Roy was standing perfectly still, not quite believing what he had heard. "What did you say?"

"It happened a couple of hours ago, Robin and the others were taking care of a fire that happened in the Gotham Plaza," Green Arrow explained, "They got separated and they couldn't find Robin once it was over. He's completely disappeared."

Suddenly Nightwing's disappearance made sense. "I'm on my way."

He switched off his comm and began to make way for Mt. Justice.

* * *

Two hours later Dick was riding his motorcycle at maximum speed through the wrought-iron gates of Wayne Manor. It had begun to pour rain and thunder and lightning crackled through the sky making the manor look more sinister and cold.

Once he was close enough to the stairs that led to the front door he leapt off the bike not bothering with the brakes. The bike skidded across the grounded causing loud splashes as it hit the large muddy water, but Dick couldn't care less. Right now he only had one objective on his mind as he ran to the door. He didn't even bother knocking, he just threw the doors open and he ran inside.

"Alfed!" he called out desperately. "Bruce!"

When he heard no answer he went to the familiar old grandfather clock as he opened the case and worked the necessary keys to open the doors. Once they opened he began to run down the dark, desolate staircase he had grown up in.

Both Bruce and Alfred were at the BatComputer. Alfred glanced back once he heard Dick's footsteps.

"Master Dick." he greeted solemnly.

"Tim?" he asked hoping to God that this was all some cruel, twisted joke that Tim had concocted. He prayed to any deity out there that none of this was real, that his little brother was safe and sound.

All his hopes and prayers were crushed as Alfred shook his head.

So many emotions were coursing through his body right now: confusion, anger, fear, and desperation. When he had heard Bruce utter the words 'Tim's missing', he didn't think, he acted. Once he sped towards Gotham on his bike, he had been hoping and praying that it was all fake, that he wasn't missing. Now that it was confirmed he wanted nothing more than to shout, scream, throw something against the wall. But none of that could find Tim, and ultimately that was what Dick wanted to do.

"What happened?" he asked Bruce.

Surprisingly it was Alfred who began explaining. "I can explain that. I was out running errands and when I came home, I found a note from Master Tim explaining his whereabouts. Naturally I called Master Bruce, who immediately ordered that I retrieve him. But I felt that he needed time to himself and since he was with his teammates he would be safe. Then he received a call from the League."

Dick knew where this was going, Alfred blamed himself. He thought that if he had gone to pick up Tim he wouldn't have gone missing.

"Don't blame yourself Alfred." Dick said. "This isn't your fault. Any one of us would've thought the same thing you had."

He looked at Bruce as if daring him to say otherwise but Bruce was one hundred percent focused on the computer. "How did it happen? You and I both know Tim wouldn't have gone down without a fight."

"There was a riot at Gotham Plaza." Bruce explained as he was typing, "A series of fires broke out while a street performance had occured. Aqualad was putting out the fires while the others did crowd control. They were separated from one another and when it was all over they had no word from Robin. When they went out to look for him Kid Flash had discovered his cell phone in an alleyway."

"Can you track him?" Nightwing asked desperately. He noticed the subtle way that Bruce clenched his fists. Of course, all of Bruce's traces were connected to the Robin suit, and the only civilian trace he could put on Robin would be his sunglasses, which Robin had probably found and disconnected. Tim was too smart not to find it.

'Oh God.' Nightwing realized. That was it. The only known way to track Tim down would be the gadgets and communicators that were connected to the Robin suit. And if Bruce had a way to track him down, he would've done so by now. Bruce had absolutely no way to track Tim down immediately. Which meant they would have to find him the old-fashioned way.

Which meant Tim would be subjected to whatever kind of pain or torture his kidnapper had planned for him for that much longer.

Dick couldn't accept that.

"Is there anything you can do?" he asked desperately, "Don't you have any leads at all?"

"The only thing I have to go on is the street performance that occured." Bruce said.

"What about it?"

"The street performers were nothing but clowns." Bruce answered.

Dick froze. It seemed Bruce had known what he was thinking.

"I already checked. Arkham says that the Jokers still in his cell." he said.

"Arkham had helped the Joker escape last year." Dick snapped, "What makes you so sure that they're telling the truth now?"

Bruce pressed a few buttons on the BatComputer and on the screen came a video of the Joker in his cell.

"This is live in his cell, and from what I've seen he hasn't made any changes in the past year. Arkham assures me he's been on level one solitary lockdown since his return."

If it wasn't the Joker then who was it? Dick thought to himself. His thoughts immediately tracked back to yesterday's events.

"Do you think-

"I don't know." Bruce cut in seeming to follow his trail of thoughts. "I wish to God I knew his limits, but I honestly don't know how far he would be pushed. It's something I wouldn't put past him."

Dick clenched his fist and they were visibly shaking as he tried to contain his anger. "Aren't you even going to interrogate him? Don't you think he should at least be questioned?"

"Dick." Bruce used his no patience tone, "The clowns are our only lead and there are too many criminals out there who could have used them as a fault to throw us off. We don't know for sure if Jason had a part in it."

"And if he does?" Dick asked.

Bruce said nothing. He just continued to type in his computer.

When Jason had died, Dick had felt guilty. Guilty for his hostility, for his lack of effort to get to know him. He was only four years older than him, but he could never get past the feeling that he was his replacement. The night that Jason had shattered the drug dealer's collarbone, Bruce had practically begged him to come down and talk with him, which Dick had outright refused, he was pretty sure Jason was in the room when he said it. He, much like Bruce, felt like he had failed Jason.

That was why he made such an effort with Tim. He wanted to make sure Tim never fell down the same road as Jason, and he never once regretted it. He had received the little brother he never knew he wanted. Whenever they had a good time out, Dick would get into comtemplating moments asking himself if he had treated Jason the same way, would he have turned out differently.

Ever since the incident last year Bruce was never sure on what he would do about Jason. While Bruce may have told everyone that he would treat Jason no different than any other criminal, Dick knew better. He knew that Bruce still believed that Jason could be saved, that he could become one of them again. Dick wasn't so sure about that.

There was one thing he was sure about. If Jason had anything to do with Tim's disappearance, there was no force on heaven, hell, or earth that would save him from Dick's wrath. If he had done anything to hurt Tim...

Dick had stalked off.

"Master Dick?" Alfred called.

"Don't do anything stupid." Bruce called out.

That made Dick stop in his tracks. That was the final straw.

"I will do what what I have to to find my brother." Dick snarled clenching his fists. "I swear to God Bruce, if I find out Jason has hurt Tim in any way, there is nothing on that you or the League can do that will stop me from doing what you should have done last year."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Bruce asked swiveling in his charir and standing up.

"Just like I said." Dick said in a calm voice, but it lost none of it's rage. "I will rectify the mistake Ra's made when he revived Jason."

Bruce had crossed the room and pinned Dick to the wall so fast, he didn't even have enough time to blink. "If you think I'm going to let you do what I think you're going to do, then you're about to see a side of me that I only save for criminals."

Dick shoved off Bruce, "If you think you can intimidate me, you're dead wrong. I'm not your partner anymore and I'm definitley not your sidekick. I'm sure as hell not you Bruce, unlike you I will do what has to be done to save Tim. I will _Kill _for Tim Bruce, and I mean that literally... I will _kill _anyone who tries to hurt him, and if he has a single scratch on him when he's found, I will do everything in my power to make sure you never see him again."

"Master Dick really!" Alfred said in a startled voice. Bruce held up a hand.

"If you cross this line, then you will suffer the consequences." Bruce said, "I'll see to that personally."

"Your threats mean nothing." Dick said, "After all look what happened to Jason."

He then proceeded to walk up the stairs, his steps filling the heavy tensioned silence that echoed within the cave.

* * *

(The Next Day: Mt. Justice)

Roy woke up groggily and stretched out on the sofa. Even though the base had a surplus of extra rooms available, he refused to sleep in one. He didn't want to give the others the wrong impression that he was there for good. He had arrived at Mt. Justice around midnight and he immediately demanded what had happened, but Green Arrow had insisted that Roy stay the night, because no one was in any shape to go looking for Robin.

He looked at the clock that overlooke the living room and saw that it was nine in the morning. He sat up an stared into space. Truth be told he hardly slept a wink last night, and he was pretty sure the same went for the rest of the team. Even though he acted so callously towards the team, he really did care about them and he knew how important Robin was not only to the team but to the entire Justice League as well.

He got up and walked into the kitchen where he saw the alien girl and Wally sitting quietly at the counter.

"Good morning Speedy." Megan said, attempting to give a smile but failing miserably.

"It's Red Arrow." he corrected automatically, though his tone held none of the usual malice.

He looked around noticing that Aqualad and Superboy were missing. "Where are the others?"

"Aqualad is doing laps in the pool, and Superboy refuses to come out of his room." Megan explained. "They both blame themselves for what happened to Robin."

Red Arrow held back a snort. Truth be told, he almost blamed them too, Aqualad was the leader and Superboy was the strongest, at least one of them should've been with Robin. He may not show it but he cared a lot about Robin too. They practically grew up as partners together, they were both the most experienced of all the sidekicks, Robin only beat him by a few months.

About half an hour later Kaldur walked in wiping his head dry with a towel, he told everyone that Green Arrow had called a meeting and Superboy was already waiting for them. They followed their leader to the training ground where all their meetings took place. Green Arrow was standing in the center of the room with Superboy about five feet in front of him and much to their surprise Superman was with them as well. Roy was the first to break the silence.

"So?" he asked crossing his arms. "What's the plan?"

"I know you guys are worried about Robin, and I know you want to help with the search, but trust me when I say that the League is doing everything in their power to find him." Superman explained. "That being said, we have decided it would be best if you were kept off the case."

As expected they were met by immediate protests and cries of outrage.

"Are you kidding me?" Roy snarled. "How the hell do you expect any of us to just stand here and wait for you to find Robin. Do you honestly expect us to stand by and do nothing?"

"Of course not," Green Arrow said trying to calm the teens down. "But we know that none of you can handle this without being biased and it's best that this search be done as proffesionally as possible."

"If we're not going to find Robin then why did you even call me here in the first place?" Roy demanded.

"This group needed more members Roy." Green Arrow insisted. "With Robin gone, the team needed someone to help them on the missions they were tasked with."

Roy's eyes widened then narrowed down in anger. "You mean to tell me that you brought me here to _replace_ Robin!"

"Of course not!" Superman said in a louder voice trying to gain control of the situation. "No one is going to replace Robin, however despite his disappearance this team needs to continue on their assignments."

"How are we supposed to do that when one of our teammates is missing?" Superboy snapped finally speaking out. "How can we concentrate on anything when we know that Robin is out there going through God knows what!"

"I know that this is hard for you." Superman placated, "Trust me when I say that Robin's disappearance has hit everyone hard, but this team needs to go on. You're all heroes just like the League, and every single one of you knows the risks when you put on your costumes."

"Risks that should only occur when our costumes are on!" Roy argued, "Not when you're attacked in broad daylight with civilians."

"Robin was a hero just like the rest of us." Superman continued. "But it is in everyone's best interests that we carry on."

"You know what, I'm done here!" Roy didn't even let him finish. He turned around and began to storm off.

"Roy!" Oliver called, "Roy come back here!"

Roy swiveled around and released all of the anger he had harbored, "No you listen! I don't take orders from you anymore! and if you won't let us find Robin then I'm going out there to do it myself!"

"Roy listen," Clark tried, "What would Robin do?"

"Don't you _ever_ talk about Robin!" Roy snarled. "You don't know the first thing about him! If it were one of us, he would already be out there trying to find us consequences be damned and you all know it!"

He turned to the group. "Are any of you coming?"

For a moment none of the teens moved, until finally Conner walked up to him. Once he stood next to Roy, Roy spoke again.

"So that's it then? Nobody else?" he asked. No answer was given. The entire group cared about Robin, but they didn't have it in them to defy their mentors.

"You all disgust me!" he spat. "You don't deserve to call Robin your friend."

Before they could walk off, Superman called out again.

"Superboy stop!" he called. "Think about what you're doing! The minute you walk out that door, you won't be able to come back!"

Superboy rounded on Superman and started to shout. "Without Robin, this team is _worthless_! And don't you dare try to order me around again! I owe you nothing! The only reason I ever stayed was because of Robin! If there's anyone out there who I owe my loyalty to it's Robin! It will always be Robin!"

He turned back to Red Arrow and walked alongside him.

"What now?" Conner asked.

"Not now." Roy said in a low voice, "He'll hear."

Conner knew who he was talking about, so he waited until the had reached their bikes. Roy made sure to take out the tracking device in Conner's bike before mounting his own.

"We'll ditch the bikes when we get to Bludhaven." Roy explained as he sped towards the road.

"What's in Bludhaven?" Conner asked riding alongside Red Arrow.

"Nightwing." Roy said, "He'll be one of the few allies we'll have in finding Robin."

Conner didn't argue any further. As long as they found Robin, he didn't care where they went or who they turned to.

* * *

(_Bosnia: 3:00 pm) Bjelasnica Mountains_

Tim was abruptly woken up by the snow that was roughly thrown on top of him. He woke up gasping and trying to shake off the cold. His initial reaction was annoyance and irritation as he thought that Kid Flash was playing a prank, but when he recalled the last events in his memory, he instantly became aware and looked around his surroundings.

He couldn't see much because it was so dark. He could make out the high windows which were all blocked out by black tarps to keep out the sun's rays. He saw that he was still in his civilian clothes with his shades still on. He also felt his feet and writs tied tightly behind his back. He started to become bewildered until he heard a small, sinister chuckled.

"Nice to see the little Birdie's awake." a familiar voice said.

Robin's blood ran cold as he realized who it was, but he knew that he had to play dumb.

"Who is that?" He called out, making sure to add an uncertain tone to his voice.

"Oh now that just hurts. Don't you remember your good ol' Uncle Jay?" A bright light was activated in the center of the room. Tim squinted his eyes to adjust himself to the bright light. Standing in the center of the light was the Joker, in his classic purple suit and green hair.

"Come now little Birdie, it's only been a year. Surely you haven't forgotten me." Joker said.

"I-I don't know who you are." Tim said in a quiet submitting voice.

"Oh come now Robin we both know that's not true."

Tim stiffened as he said his name. At least his hero's name.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Tim stated.

"Now we both know that's not true Robin," Joker said, "or should I say..Tim."

Tim's eyes widened involuntarily behind his shades.

The Joker took Tim's silence as a sign to continue. "That's right, I know who you are. I know who you _all_ are."

Tim was starting to panic, but he refused to give in to him. "I don't know what you're talking about. My name's not Tim, and it's not Robin. I don't know who you're talking about."

The Joker gave an overexaggerated sigh and he clapped his hands. More lights turned on, and Tim got a better vision of his surroundings. There were multiple tables, some with test tubes and beakers, others had clear bags of white powder, which he could only guess what they were. In the Joker's far right was a large metal He unzipped the zipper and took out a large, but rather rusted crow-bar.

"I really hoped it wouldn't have to come to this." the Joker said with a convincing regretable tone and expression. But Tim knew better, he knew what the psychopathic clown was really like.

The Joker got a wicked smile on his face, "But if my Father taught me anything, it would be that naughty children should never lie and when they do, they must be punished."

He raised the crow-bar high above his head, and right when he was going to swing down, he stopped himself.

"Oh! I almost forgot." He practically skipped towards the dufflebag again and reached inside and took out a video camera and a tri-pod. He quickly began to set them up before Robin.

"Batz was so disappointed when I didn't record my quality time with his last Robin," The Joker explained to Tim as though he were an old friend. "So, I'm making sure not to make the same mistake twice."

He turned his attention back to the camera, mumbling to himself as he did so. "Now let's see here...this hooks to that...see if it's turned on...AHA!"

He jumped up gleefully once the camera turned on, "It's working! It's working!"

He faced the camera and began to speak. "Hello BatFamily. It's been so long! But not to worry, your good old Uncle Jay is back! Now Batsy, I know that we haven't been on the best of terms these past few years, and I was hoping to fix that. When I started to come up with different ways on how to make it up to you, it all became clear to me. Now Batsy, you and I have spent more than enough time together, but I haven't nearly spent that much time with any of your kiddies. Your oldest is too big, and the middle one and I aren't on the best of terms, so I thought who better to bring out little family together that the current Robin."

He turned the camera towards Tim, who had been struggling the moment the Joker started talking, but he found out his body wasn't responding to his signals.

"Oh don't worry Robby," Joker said, "That's just the anesthesia, it'll wear off eventually. But don't worry, you're going to be able to feel all the fun we're going to have."

He turned the camera back to him, "So like I was saying, I haven't been spending nearly enough quality time with dear little Robin and so I came to rectify that."

He turned his attention back to the crowbar, and picked it up once again.

"Now smile for the camera Robin, or should I say Tim."

He swung down.

* * *

Tip of the iceberg for Tim. Trust me it goes WAY farther for that.

Review pretty please. I need inspiration!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice or Under Red Hood, or any of the characters.

SURPRISE! I didn't even plan on finishing this chapter until the weekend, but I couldn't stop writing!

I would like to dedicate this chapter to all of my faithful readers and reviewers. particularly to...

Mahlia

hamlettrapedhoratio

Strata of the Travelers

chubere

and LissaWonderland

Please enjoy the chapter, and let me know what you think!

* * *

Jason was settling himself down comfortably in his cave. He had gone abroad from Gotham for about six weeks. He made trips to Metropolis, Star City, and even Coast City, California. (AN: I checked, it's an actual city).

Business was good for him so far. He had managed to find some competent lackeys to oversee the drug trades in his territories across the country, his usual rules had to abide; go on their business, but stay away from the kids.

He pressed a few keys on his computer, and looked up the statistics of Gotham. He frowned behind his mask as he saw that Black Mask was actually gaining control of the drug trades and crime rates were even higher than before. Of course he was pissed that the Black Mask was able to gain more control, but he was more focused on the fact that Bruce had let the crime rates in Gotham get this high.

_'What is the old man planning?'_ he thought to himself.

He pressed some more keys and his eyes widened behind the mask. There was almost no activity from the Batman in the past week, as he went deeper into his research he discovered that within each passing week, for the last six weeks, there were fewer and fewer sightings from Batman.

_'What the hell is going on around here?' _Jason thought.

* * *

The thug grunted as he was thrown even harder across the room. He hit the wall with a hard thud, the wall actually denting from the impact, and slid unceremoniously onto the floor.

He quickly scrambled against the wall as he noticed a pair of black boots in front of him.

Nightwing had crouched to the ground so he was face to face with the thug, but there was no ouce of friendliness in his face. There was nothing but contempt and hatred for the jean-clad man that stood before him. All the thug wore was a pair of ripped jeans, and a jean jacket with the sleeves ripped off. He wasn't wearing shirt underneath, so his hairy chest and beer-belly were apparent for everyone to see. He also had a red bandana wrapped around his balding black hair.

Red Arrow and Conner were flanking Nightwing on either side. Before Conner could go on patrol with Roy and Dick they had to make sure he was unrecognizable. The only changes he made was his shirt, which was now plain black instead of wearing the Superman emblem, and his black leather jacket. He also doned shades so the thugs wouldn't recongnize his face. He kept his pants and combat boots. As of now, he went by Kon, in honor of the nickname Tim had given him.

"I don't know how much longer I can control my friend here." He jerked a thumb in Conner's direction, who was almost casually leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. _Almost_. If you looked more closely you could see the anticipation in his stance, as if he was ready to attack at any given moment. "So if you don't get us some information we can use, then I won't be resposible for what happens to you next."

I-I swear! I swear to God I don't know nothin!" The thug stuttered, "Really, I don't know nothin about no clowns!"

Nightwing gave an exasperated sigh. "He's no use to us."

He looked towards Conner, "Take care of him."

Conner gave a simple nod and walked menacingly towards the thug, who immediately backed away in fear.

"W-wait! There is something! The Red Hood!"

Nightwing came to an abrupt stop, he slowly turned his head around. "What about him?"

"He's back! He's supposed to come back from some business trip awhile back." The thug stuttered trying to save his own skin, "He's been gone for weeks, he actually left the day that those clowns came to da Plaza!"

"Where can we find him?" Red Arrow demanded, his raised a threatening hand to his bow.

"I don't know! He always comes to us! He's actually supposed to meet us in the east of Gotham. He's got another big meet-down with the big time drug lords."

Nightwing gave no sign of acknowledgement to his words, he only gestured to Conner.

"Deal with him."

The thug gave another start, "But I told you everything!"

Before he could get another word in, he was knocked unconcious by Conner, who gave his body one last disgusted look and kicked him to the side.e

"Let's go." He said as he walked out with Arrow and Nightwing

Six weeks had past since Tim went missing, and while there were hot leads during the first week, they remained fruitless. They did some investigating in Bludhaven, but since Tim went missing in Gotham, that's where his kidnapper would most likely be. Most of the leads they got were dead ends, and one by one the clowns started to reappear...in pieces. Nothing could be identified from their remains, they had been chopped, buried, and burned so they couldn't give out any DNA. It was as if who had ever orchestrated it wanted to erase all traces of the incident. So far it was working, as of now they were all John Does, and none of the witnesses were willing to come forward and even if they did not one of them saw what had happened to Tim.

Dick was getting more desperate as the weeks went by, he started to become more violent, and terrifying. He had pretty much began hunting down every crook he set his eyes on in both Gotham and Bludhaven. From what he had heard from Alfred, Bruce wasn't doing any better.

Jason was his only lead, and he knew that there was no way he was going to tell Bruce about him. He had to confront Jason himself, without Roy and Conner. He turned towards them.

"You two head back to the apartment." He ordered, "I've got something I need to take care of."

"You're going to find the Red Hood aren't you?" Roy asked.

"Don't worry about where I'm going." Dick said, "This is something I have to do alone."

Roy stared at him for a long minute, before nodding as if he understood what he was talking about. "Alright, but call if you need help."

"Don't worry, I will." Nightwing said. He reached into his pants and grabbed one of his grappling hooks and he took off towards the Gotham's East.

"I don't understand," Conner said, "If it's about finding Robin then why can't we go?"

"Because as close as we are to him, it's nothing compared to how Nightwing feels about him." Roy said, "And it's because of that closeness, that he could be driven to do things. Things we're better off not seeing."

When Conner opened his mouth to argue again, Roy held up a hand to stop him. "Just trust him Kon. He knows what he's doing."

He looked towards the direction where Nightwing went. _'At least...I hope he does.'_

_(Back at Thugs apartment)_

He was rubbing his neck as he rubbed the spot where Kon had hit him. He was shaking from both fear and relief. He didn't have much experience with Nightwing, but he knew that that wasn't his usual interrogation methods. Something big was going on, and he wasn't so sure he wanted to know what it was.

He was so focused on his thoughts he didn't realize a figure creeping behind him. Not until he felt a hand around his throat, and he was slammed roughly against the wall. He was easily lifted into the air, and when he opened his eyes as he recovered from the reel, he noticed a glint of steel in his left.

"Joey, Joey, Joey." a familiar voice echoed, "Here I thought you were one of my boys."

"B-But I am! Honest Red! I didn't tell them nothin!" Joey babbled, as he kept his eyes on the rather large blade in Jason's hand.

Jason's eyes narrowed, "You know what I hate more than drug-peddling scumbags..._lying_ drug-peddling scumbags. Did you honestly think I was going to take your word for it when you told me that you wouldn't rat me out? Why do you think I bugged every one of your meth-labs? For kicks?"

He started to strangle Joey even harder than before, to the point where his eyes were popping out and he was gasping for breath.

"OK Joey, start talking. What did you tell them?" Red Hood asked.

"Nothin! I swear! I didn't tell them nothin!"

He screamed as he felt a searing, burning pain in his abdomen. Jason had stabbed the blade deep, and he was dragging it down, _slowly_, to his lower half. The Red Hood remained unfazed as the blood dribbled from the wound and onto his knife, and on the floor. But he made sure that it didn't get on his hand.

"Better start telling the truth Joey, or the next one goes _between your legs._" He growled out the last part as he pressed the knife even harder.

Joey screamed out in pain, and tears were starting to drop from his eyes as his fear finally overtook him. "The clowns! They wanted to know about the clowns! All I told them was that you got back today! That was it I swear!"

Jason's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Clowns? What clowns?"

"I don't know! They showed up a few weeks ago and started some fire in the Plaza! They wouldn't stop talking about, it's all the Bats ever talk about! That's everything I swear!"

For a moment Jason said nothing. Joey risked a glance but couldn't see anything past the red helmet.

"I believe you." Jason said.

Joey let out a breath of relief.

"But it's not going to save you."

Before Joey could comprehend what he meant, Jason slit his throat in a one-sweep move. Joey's eyes widened as he gurgled and moved his hands hopelessly to his throat. Jason had cut deep enough for muscle and bone to be visible, but it didn't kill him instantly. He was feeling unimaginable pain.

"You should've kept your mouth shut, Joey." Jason said, "You would've died quickly if at all. Now you're going to have to suffer this for the next thirty minutes. Better enjoy them...if you can."

He walked out, not sparing a glance at the drug dealer again.

* * *

(Wayne Manor)

Batman was getting desperate. He knew the statistics, he knew the facts. The longer a person stayed missing, the less likely they would be found...alive. Six weeks. Six weeks since Robin...no Tim had been missing. It wasn't Robin who was targeted, it was Tim. Why or by who he still didn't know. The ransom call he had expected never came, whoever had taken Tim obviously had no interest in Bruce Wayne, but what would they want with Tim?

Batman clenched his fists and punched the console of his computer in frustration. All of his big-time criminals were locked up in Arkham, and none of the small-timers or middle men he had interrogated had the brains or man power to orchestrate the type of attack that had happened in the plaza. His interrogation with the Joker wasn't very helpful either.

_(Flashback: 5 weeks ago Arkham Asylam)_

_Gordon had to pull some strings, but he had managed to get Batman a one on one seating with the Joker. With every step that he took towards the Joker's cell he got angrier and angrier. He had no idea how he would be able to contain his fury. As much as he wanted to demand Tim's location from the Joker, he knew that by doing so he would compromise his identity and Tim's. He walked into the cell, the Joker wore a straight jacket, and he was strapped to the stainless steel wall._

_"Ah Batman." The Joker said calmly, "So nice to see you again. Tell me how is the old neighborhood these days?"_

_Bruce wasted no time in humoring the Joker with his banter, he merely showed him the photos of the clowns and their performance. "Tell me what you know about them."_

_"Oh now that just won't do." Joker mumbled to himself. "Really what were they thinking, bright orange and green ruffle tuxedoes? And the hair? I'm all about patriotism, but red, white and blue? Seriously? Ugh, I'm just sick looking at them."_

_His eyes finally shifted to Batman's face. "Is this how it's going to be Batman? Discrimination against every clown from now on because of little ol' me? Now I just might have a word with the DA about that. He's only two floors up."_

_Batman slammed his fist on the wall next to Joker's left ear. It was met with a resonating bang, Gordon had warned him if he laid a hand on the Joker their session would be cut short. _

_"I don't have time for games Joker." He snarled, "Tell me what you know, or six months in a body cast will look like a vacation to you."_

_"Now Batman, don't you remember the conversation we had last year?" Joker said, "If I ever wanted to stir up trouble again, you would be the first to know that it was me. As far as I know, all these clowns did was start a tiny little fire, you and I both know that's just to amateur for my taste. Besides no one was seriously hurt, or is there something that I'm missing?"_

_Bruce's fists clenched, he couldn't reveal Tim's disappearance, he had made sure that it was kept a secret. He had pulled him out of the school, stating that he was going to study abroad for a semester to avoid any suspicious questions. The media would have a field day with it, and with Robin gone, it wouldn't be long before someone put two and two together. That wasn't a chance he was willing to take._

_"If anything, it's almost a repeat of what happened with Little Red Riding Hood last year." Joker continued, "Why don't you ask him? Maybe he knows something."_

_Once hearing that Batman snapped. With a snarl he grabbed the Joker by the shoulders and ripped him from the wall slamming him onto the ground. The orderlies and Gordon had already entered the room grabbing Batman and restraining him from the Joker. _

_He knew he could take them if he wanted to, but he allowed them to escort him out of the room. He was seething on the inside, he was no closer to finding Tim, than Nightwing was, and that thought terrified him._

_The last sound he heard as the doors closed was the Joker's manical laughing._

_(End Flashback)_

Something had been off about the Joker last night, but he didn't dwell on it, he was more focused on finding any other sources which could lead him to Tim. No one was willing to talk, and the clowns who had been a part of the Plaza Riot had all ended up dead. The only person he knew that could instill that type of fear so quickly and effectively was Jason, but he had seen no sign of him in the past six weeks and none of his known associates were willing to talk.

He stood up and walked towards the display cases where the costumes were held. He stopped in front of Tim's. When Tim had thrown his costume on the ground, he had Alfred place it on the display so it wouldn't get damaged, (and so it wouldn't _cause _any damage).

He put his hand on the glass and continued to stare. Memories of Tim started to flood his mind, and along with them memories of Jason appeared as well. He let out a primal, angry roar and punched the wall inbetween both cases.

_'Not Tim' _he thought as he panted heavily. _'I will not lose him too.'_

_

* * *

__(Crime Alley)_

Jason patiently stood on top of one of the abandoned apartment complexs in Crime Alley. Four hours had past since he had cancelled the meeting with the Eight Lords of the Drug Trade. He didn't care if they were caught by Batman, but he still needed them to finance his budget. He wasn't very comfortable with having a face-down in his hometurf, but he didn't feel like chasing Grayson all around town. If they were going to have a face-off then it might as well be on familiar territory.

He checked his chronometer and saw that it was past one o' clock in the morning, if Grayson wasn't showing himself now, he probably wouldn't show up at all. He was about to turn back and go inside, but a sudden movement to his right stopped him.

Jason smirked behind his helmet, 'That's more like it.'

He blocked the first kick with his arm and doged the punch that followed.

"Is this the best you can do Grayson?" Jason taunted. "I thought the Old Man trained you better than that."

All he received was an angry roar and another fast punch to his left. At first Jason was amused, and he was eager for any excuse to fight. But something was different about Grayson tonight.

His moves were fast and angry, almost like he was fighitng blindly. There was both rage and desperation in his movements, and he wasn't speaking to Jason, all he got were grunts or growls. Jason had been so caught up in his analysis, that he didn't see the arm that aimed for his head.

Nightwing managed to catch him on the side of his head and knocked Jason to the ground. Before he could get up Dick grabbed him around his throat and with adrenaline-rushed strength he pinned him against the ground.

"Where is he?" he snarled into Jason's face.

Jason's eyes narrowed as he picked up his feet and kicked them into Dick's stomach, he rolled over and flipped into a fighting stance. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't give me that! Where is he?" Dick cried again.

Now Jason was getting worried. From Dick's stance he could see that he hadn't gotten much sleep or energy in him, and just like his fighting skills his voice was angry and desperate. Whatever it was that drove him to this must've been bad. He figured he oughta take him outta his misery.

"Hey Grayson, look behind you." Jason said pointing to Dick's back.

It was either desperation or sheer stupidity, but Dick looked back giving Jason the opportunity to grab his gun and smash the barrel into Dick's skull. It wasn't hard enough to cause a concussion, but it was hard enough to knock him out.

"I can't believe he actually fell for that." Jason said looking down at Dick's unconcious body.

Before he could make any more movements he heard a woosh behind his shoulder and he quickly flipped out of the way just in time before an arrow had imbedded itself into the spot where Jason once stood.

He looked up to find Red Arrow and Kon leaping onto the building. They both landed into a defensive stance in front of Dick, both ready for a fight.

Roy bent down to check on him and was relieved to find a pulse. He whipped his head back to Jason and gave an accusing glare.

"What did you do to him?" he demanded.

Jason kept his arms crossed, "Relax, I didn't kill him. The poor guy just looked tired, so I helped him get some sleep."

"By slamming a gun barrel into his skull." Kon growled.

"Would you rather I shot him?" Jason said in a bored voice. He pointed the gun at Dick. "Cause I can fix that."

Kon growled and made to pounce onto Jason, but was surprised to find Roy's arm in front of him. "Don't. We might need him."

"Need me for what?" Jason asked, "And who the hell was Grayson talking about when he said 'Where is he?'"

Kon and Roy pondered for a moment, both wondering if they should tell Jason.

"You might as well tell me, I'll find out either way." Jason told the younger heroes.

They were interrupted by the sound of Dick's groans from the ground. Roy immeidately dropped to the ground to check on him.

"Nightwing you okay?" Roy asked putting his hand on his shoulder.

Dick was still coming to, so he wasn't completely coherent. "...bin? Where's Robin? I know you have him."

Now they had Jason's attention. "Robin? What about him?"

"He's missing." Kon said tightly, "He's been missing for the past six weeks."

It finally clicked for Jason, and now his attitude was changing from confused to pissed off. "So let me get this straight. You lost the kid and you think _I _had something to do with it?"

Although Jason wouldn't admit it, he couldn't help but feel a little hurt. As crazy and sadistic as he was, even he had limits. While he would tease, harass, and rough him up a little, he would never seriously _hurt _the kid.

Speaking of which.

"What happened?" Jason asked.

"A bunch of clowns caused a riot six weeks ago." Kon explained. "Once it was all over Robin went missing. We got a tip from one of your dealers that you were coming back today, and you had left town the day that Robin disappeared."

"Okay, let's get one thing straight." Jason growled. "If any of you shitheads had half a brain, you would've found out that the reason I left Gotham was to check up on my territories across the country, not to mention the fact that I absolutely _hate _clowns. Why would I use them to do my dirty work. God you people _suck _at playing detective."

"Detective...Robin's really good at that." Dick said in an almost drunken slur.

Jason raised an eyebrow behind his mask. Maybe he hit him harder than he thought.

"I see you people got you're hands full." Jason said backing away. "I'll let you handle him, while I just head off."

He broke into a run and jumped off the building

"Hey come back here!" Roy called out.

Kon immediately ran after him, but he was too late. Jason had disappeared

"Can they all do that?" Kon asked looking at Roy, who was placing Dick's arm around his shoulders.

"If they were trained by Batman then yes." Roy answered struggling to support Dick.

"I've got him." Kon walked towards them and hauled Dick onto his shoulder in a fireman's carry. "Should we go back to the apartment?"

"He might have a concussion, we can't risk not treating it." Roy answered. He activated the comm piece in his ear and called the number he knew that Dick didn't want him to call.

"What is it?" the voice said flatly.

"Batman? We need your help." Roy said, "Nightwing went to confront the Red Hood and-

"He did what!" Batman's voice interrupted him. "Where are you?"

"Crime Alley, towards the northern part of Gotham." Roy answered.

"Stay where you are. I'm sending the Bat-Jet for you."

He hung up before Roy could answer.

"This is going to be fun." Roy said looking at Dick's unconcious form over Kon's shoulder.

* * *

_(Black Mask's main office.)_

The Black Mask was yet on another one of his rants. He had just received word that the Red Hood was back in Gotham, and none of the assasins he sent after him were successful.

"What the hell is it going to take to kill that son of a bitch!" Black Mask screamed, "Do you have any idea how much those assasins cost me? Do you?"

"Yes sir, I do." Ms. Li stated calmly, fixing her glasses, "After all, I'm the one who made the calls and wired the money."

"Then why isn't he dead yet?" Black Mask screamed.

The lights suddenly went out. The infrared back up lights began glowing throughout the buildings

"What the hell?" Black Mask mumbled to himself.

He walked to his desk and pulled out a .9 millimeter. He gestured Ms. Li to follow him. They both cautiously walked down the stairs and they were bewildered to find it absolutely quiet. There was no sign of his bodyguards either.

"What the hell do I pay these people for?" Black Mask growled. They finally reached the bottom floor where they were met with a truly gruesome sight.

Ms. Li let out a terrified scream.

All of Mask's men were strewn across the floor. Many of them with their throats or stomachs slit. Their organs and blood falling out of the wounds, and some were even missing their arms legs and...heads.

Black Mask could barely keep the bile from escaping his throat, unfortunately Ms. Li didn't have that kind of control.

"Ugly sight isn't it." a voice above them said.

They whipped their heads to look up as Jason jumped down and landed in a crouch on the floor. "Now that I think about it, I don't think you've ever personally seen my handywork."

They both whipped their heads up just in time to see the Red Hood jump down from his hiding place and land in a crouch in the center of the room. "Hey Roman, miss me?"

Black Mask cursed inwardly, if the Red Hood knew his real name, there was no telling as to what else he knew. He dropped the gun and quickly ran towads the doors, only to find that he couldn't open them.

Jason slowly stood up, "That won't do you much good. I locked up and barricaded any doors and windows on this floor, and don't even think of running up those stair. Not unless you want to keep your legs."

"What do you want _freak_?" Black Mask snarled.

While most would take his tone as angry, Jason knew better. He could practically feel the fear and desperation in his tone.

"You and I need to have a little chat." Jason said, not bothering with his usual game of cat and mouse. Before Black Mask could even blink, Jason whipped out two daggers from his jacket and threw at Black Mask. He threw them with such a strong momentum that they pinned him into the wall he stood against, he howled in pain as they imbedded themselves in his shoulders. Ms. Li immediately ran to her employer.

Jason whipped out a gun and pointed it at Ms. Li, "Don't move."

She froze instantly, the terror apparent on her face. Jason decided not to take chances as he aimed for her calf and shot her in the leg. Her screams rang throughout the building but she was immediately silenced when she felt the gun press against her forehead.

"Keep quiet if you want to live." he said softly. He then turned his attention to Black Mask, who was still pinned against the wall gasping from pain.

Jason slowly walked toward him and put his gun back into his pocket. He reached down to his ankle and unsheathed his knife. Once he reached Black Mask he pressed the blade against his throat.

"I'm only going to ask this once Black, what did you have to do with the clowns?"

Black Mask forced himself to focus on Jason's words, blood was running profusely from the blades imbedded in his shoulders, staining his very expensive suit. His suit was the least of his worries, as he tried to come up with a way to outsmart Jason.

"Like I told Batman, I don't know anything about clowns." He gasped out.

Although he couldn't see them, Jason's eyes how narrowed down to slits. It was clear that he didn't know who he was dealing with, it was time to give him a wake-up call. He slowly moved the blade from his throat. Black Mask visibly relaxed thinking the Red Hood was going to let him go.

He had no idea how wrong he was.

His eyes widened and he released and inhumane scream as he felt an undescribable feeling of pain and fear. He felt the blade plunge into his lower half.

To be more specific..._between his legs._

"I'm not playing games here Roman." Jason growled, "You and I both know that you're the only person who can orchestrate that kind of manpower and make them disappear., and unlike Batman, I will do whatever it takes to get results, so if you want to keep 'em you better tell me what I want to know and do it _fast_. "

"Okay! Okay!" Black Mask practically screamed, "It was the Joker! He set up the whole thing!"

For a fraction of a second Jason was shocked, but it left as quickly as it came. "The Joker's supposed to be in Arkham."

"He got out! I don't know how he did it but he got out!" Black Mask babbled. "He told me that he knew Batman's secret identity and that he would take care o-

Black Mask could never even finish his sentence, he let out another scream as Jason twisted the blade. There was a good chance he had severed some nerves and muscle.

"What the hell do you mean he knew Batman's identity?" Jason snarled, "How did he find out?"

"I don't know!" Black Mask screamed, "He never told me! He never told me what he was planning! All he wanted was some money and guys. That's all I did for him I swear!"

"Where is he?" Jason asked. "I know he's not in Gotham anymore."

"I don't know!"

"Don't test me Roman, I'm giving you one last chance!" Jason growled tightening his grip on the blade.

"He's in Bosnia!"

Jason whipped his head to look at Ms. Li, who was still on the ground holding her leg in pain.

"What did you say?" he asked her, his body going cold once he heard the name.

"He's hiding in Bosnia, I made the travel arragements for him," she explained her voice faltering now and then. "The pilot I sent for him never returned to the states, I checked the helicopter's last known location and it was in Bosnia. That's all we know, I swear!"

Jason narrowed his eyes and kicked a cell phone towards her. "Get me a ride to Bosnia. And it better be the fastest form of transportation, cause if not..."

He let the threat hang and Ms. Li quickly grabbed the phone and did as she was told.

"Don't even think about tipping anyone off about me. Understand?"

Ms. Li bobbed her head up and down as she finally got a hold of the travel agent

Jason turned his head back at Black Mask. He moved his head so that he was next to the Black Mask's ear.

"Listen, and listen good Roman." He whispered softly, but his voice lost none of it's edge or malice. "If anything, and I mean_ anything _happens to that kid, not even Batman will be able to stop me from hunting you down, and making sure your life ends in the slowest and most painful way possible."

"Kid? What kid?" Black Mask asked, not understanding what he meant.

Jason made no answer. He did a clean swipe of his blade and smirked in satisfaction as he saw that it did it's job.

"That was just a warning. If that kid is hurt...you'll find out just how sadistic and twisted I can get."

He walked towards Ms. Li. "Did you get it done?"

She nodded her head vigorously, not able to take her eyes from her employer who was screaming and writhing with every ounce of stregth he had. "There's a charter plane waiting for you at 21 Gotham Airfield, just use his name and the pilot will take you there."

"Good." He whipped out his gun and shot her point-blank in the head.

She fell limp, her eyes wide-open but unfocused. A pool of blood was rapidly surrounding her.

Jason looked back at Black Mask, who was staring at Ms. Li's body in open shock.

"Remember what I said. Tell no one."

He walked out, his body disappearing in the darkness.

* * *

_(Bosnia, Bjelasnica Mountains )_

The Joker gave a dramatic, exagerrated sigh. "Come now, Timmy boy. Don't you think you should have cooperated by now?"

He looked back at Tim's limp form and frowned. He walked over and gave him a kick, and was pleased to hear a moan.

"Oh good, you're alive. I know that it's hard Timmy, but I still need you alive."

Tim still made no response.

"Aww, are you giving me the silent treatment?" The Joker feigned hurt. "Come on Timmy, don't be like that."

He crouched down and smoothed Tim's hair from his forehead. Tim violently cringed and tried to back away. His hands and feet were still bound.

"There's the lively Timmy I know and love." Joker cackled. "Now come on smile for the camera!"

He roughly grabbed Tim's hair and shoved his face into the camera. "Come on now! Say hi to Daddy Dearest!"

Tim remained silent, making sure he didn't make eye contact with the camera.

"Ah don't worry Batsy." Joker said as he dropped Tim and held the camera into his face, "He's just not in a very talkative mood right now. But just wait and see! I've got a really big surprise for him and for you!"

He spared another glance at Tim.

"In fact, I think it'll be my best work ever."

He gave the camera one last wicked smile before shutting it off.

* * *

There you have it folks! I know that you people are asking how can the Joker be in two places at once, but trust me all will be explained in the next chapter.

Mahlia don't even think of giving me grief about cliffhangers!

*mahlia opens her mouth*

Me: MAHLIA IF YOU GIVE ME GRIEF ONE MORE TIME ABOUT CLIFFYS I WILL NEVER UPDATE AGAIN!

*mahlia shuts her mouth*

Me: ehem, now in other news...

Up next...the confrontation of Jason, and Joker!

Now in order to get it you people know what to do.

For those of you who don't...REVIEW!


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman or Young Justice.

VOILA! An update!

The moment you've all been waiting for...**Red Hood vs. Joker pt. 2!**

I really hope you guys like it!

Don't forget to review! I need opinions in order to improve!

* * *

Kon was using his X-ray vision, trying to see past the BatCave's walls, any clue as to who Batman was, and in turn finding out who Robin and Nightwing were.

"Don't bother." Batman said checking Nightwing's head. "All of the walls are laced and reinforced by lead, you and Superman can't see through lead."

"Coulda warned you Kon." Roy said putting a hand on his shoulder, "No one apart from the League founders, actually know the identities of the Batfamily . I've known Robin and Nightwing for over three years, and I still don't know they're identities."

"What were you thinking going after the Red Hood?" Batman interrupted, hoping to change the subject. Despite the harshness of his voice, his movements were surprisingly gentle as he examined Nightwing.

"Technically it was Nightwing who went after him." Roy replied, "Kon and I followed him to make sure he didn't do anything stupid."

"Letting him go after the Red Hood alone was stupid of all of you!" Batman snapped, "You have no idea what he's truly capable of!"

"No offense, but I don't think you know what Nightwing is capable of." Roy said, "You haven't seen him these last six weeks, he barely eats or sleeps anymore. He's been putting all of his time and effort into finding Robin."

"I'm actually starting to worry about him." Kon said.

Both heroes turned, surprised that Conner had said anything at all. He was staring at Tim's costume in the display case, his shades were off so both Batman and Red Arrow could see the intensity in his eyes.

"I know Kon." Roy said, "I'm worried about Robin too."

"I'm not talking about Robin, I'm talking about Nightwing." Kon explained turning to face them. "Ever since we've started looking for Robin, he's been getting more violent and out of control."

"What he's doing is not right." He looked directly at Roy as he said this. "You and I both know Robin wouldn't have wanted him to go this far."

"Can you blame him though?" Roy asked. "Kon, I know that you're worried about Robin, and I know how much you care about him. Hell, I practically grew up with the kid in terms of our crime-fighting so I know how you feel. But neither one of us can even come close to how much Nightwing cares about him."

"I don't understand." Kon said frowning. "How is what Nightwing feels for Robin different to what we feel."

"Because Robin isn't just a friend, or a sidekick to Nightwing." Roy explained. "Robin is his brother. His _little_ brother. Nightwing practically helped Batman raise him from day one. Before he even became Robin Nightwing was the one of the few who trained him, and gave him advice whenever he needed it."

Batman never interrupted. He knew what Roy was saying was true. Out of all the member of their little _Bat _family Dick and Tim were by far the closest. Dick and Tim had a bond, and as close as Tim and Bruce were, it was nothing compared to his and Dick's. To Tim, Dick was his absolute confidant. The person he trusted most, the person he felt he could always rely on. When they had first met, it was Dick who suggested Tim take his place as Robin. Tim was only nine years old at the time, the same age Dick was when he started. Bruce had consented only if Tim had done a year of training beforehand. First Tim trained with Alfred for three months, then he went abroad to study under some of Bruce's close friends for six, finally Tim returned to Bludhaven to train under Dick for the last three months.

The two had really bonded during their time, and Tim had exceeded all expectations of him. Dick himself said that Tim was probably the best Robin he had ever seen, and Bruce found it hard to disagree. As crazy as it was, Tim was the reason he and Dick had reconciled their differences, there was something special about Tim, something that both Jason and Dick lacked, and to this day Bruce still couldn't figure out what it was. Dick seemed to know though, and whenever it concerned Tim, Bruce saw a side of Dick he had never seen because of that.

It was because of this, he knew that Dick would take his disappearance so hard. Roy had said to him that he didn't know what Nightwing was capable was.

How wrong he was. Batman knew _exactly _what Dick was capable of, after all he was the one who trained him. When Dick had told Bruce he would kill for Tim, he didn't question it. He never doubted it. As much as it frightened him to admit it, he knew that Dick meant every word he said. He was even more terrified of what he had to do in order to stop Dick.

He prayed to God he would never have to find out.

* * *

Jason was currently sitting in a first class seat on the Black Mask's most expensive, and very best private jet. The setting was impeccable. Along with big comfy seats, there were at lease three lounge couches, all of them from exqusite red fabric. First-class dining and drink, all of which he refused. There was even a crystal chandelier hanging in the center.

But he didn't care about it. Any of it. All he could think about was the reason he was going to Bosnia in the first place.

_'You don't know.' _Jason thought to himself as he clasped his hands together and rested his chin of them. _'You don't know if the Joker has the kid.'_

Except he did. He didn't know how or why but deep in his gut, he knew...he **_knew_** where Tim was, and he knew where the Joker was keeping him.

'_Why else would he go back there?' _Jason thought bitterly, _'What better way to destroy the Batman than by taking his current Robin to the site where he killed the last Robin.'_

He didn't even know why he was bothering to go! He didn't even know the kid, he sure as hell didn't like him! He could've told Batman what he knew and that would be the end of it.

Except Batman didn't make it the last time, and this wasn't Robin who was threatened, it was Tim Drake.

'How the hell did the Joker even find out about our identities?' Jason asked himself.

Suddenly it all hit him.

"Oh My God." Jason croaked loudly.

He suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Bruce last year, the one where he and Bruce had actually used their real names. He had left the Joker in the closet that day, where he could have easily overheard them.

He jumped from his seat with a snarl and threw the tray of food they had left for him against the wall. The tray slowly slid down leaving a trail of messy goop along the way.

_'It's our fault.'_ he thought. **_'It's all our fault.'_**

He and Bruce had made a mistake, now an innocent kid was paying the price for it.

"I will not let it happen again." He growled with ferocity. "I will not let another Robin die at the hands of that psycho."

* * *

Dick groaned as his eyes began to drift open. He blinked a couple of times to adjust himself to the new light that was above him. For a brief moment he wondered where he was at. Then a familiar voice answered his question for him.

"About time you woke up."

Dick's eyes snapped open, and he bolted awake, immediately regretting it as he felt his head spinning.

"You better take it easy." Bruce commented putting a hand on his shoulder. "You got hit pretty hard."

Dick shoved off his hand and swung his legs off the bed. The minute he stood up, his knees gave away. He would've fallen hard on the floor, if Roy hadn't been there to catch him. Dick looked around and saw Roy standing next to him, he looked up to find Kon, once again, staring at Tim's Robin costume .

"You ok?" Roy asked as he helped Dick sit on the bed.

"I'm fine." Dick grunted. "What were you thinking calling _him_?"

Roy's eyes narrowed behind his mask, "I was thinking that I didn't want you to slip into a coma from that concussion the Red Hood gave you. I'm pretty sure Robin wouldn't have wanted you to either."

Dick's heart clenched at the mention of Tim.

"Nightwing." Bruce said, well aware of the fact that neither Roy or Kon, knew any of their secret identities. "I know that you're angry with me. But it's for the best that-

"I think we all know what happens when you do what _you_ think is _best_." Dick hissed.

"We're better off if we look for him together, Nightwing." Batman insisted.

"It's your fault he went missing in the first place!" Dick shouted violently turning to face Bruce. Even though he was beyond furious, he still knew better than to reveal Jason's name in front of Kon and Roy. "If you had told him about Red Hood, none of this would've happened! He wouldn't be gone!"

"Nightwing!" Bruce snapped sharply, not wanting the other two to discover their past with Jason.

"No! I've had enough of this!" Dick cried waving his arm wildly, "I'm through with the secrets and lies! They've both been looking for Robin all this time, and they deserve to know the truth just as much as he did!

"What are you talking about?" Conner asked finally turning from Tim's display case.

"Red Hood used to be Robin." Dick confessed. He sagged into a chair with his face in his hands. His voice had lost the anger and it was replaced with regret and guilt.

"What!" Roy and Kon cried at the same time, their eyes widening in shock.

"When I retired as Robin, Batman took a replacement." Dick explained taking his head out of his hands, "Red Hood used to be Batman's partner. Until he was murdered six years ago by the Joker.

"Murdered?" Roy questioned. "That's not possible, we just saw him a few hours ago."

"He was resurrected by one of Batman's enemies," Dick continued, "Once he came back to life his mind was shattered and he's been AWOL up until a year ago when he made his reappearance."

Batman had remained unusually silent during Dick's explanation, but anyone who knew him could tell that the tightening of his jaw and his nostrils flaring, were a sure sign of one of his famous Bat-outbursts.

"So you've known this whole time, and you never told Robin." Roy asked incredulously. "God, Nightwing, I expected this from Batman, but you? You've never kept secrets from him."

"I never meant to hurt him." Dick whispered, "As far as he knew, J-

He stopped himself before he could use Jason's real name.

"As far as he knew," He continued, "the Robin before him was someone who fought valiantly alongside Batman, and died for what Batman believed in. If he found out the truth, I know for a fact that Robin would've gone looking for him, and I didn't want him anywhere near the Red Hood."

It was then he realized that he couldn't put all the blame on Bruce. He was just as responsible as well, and that killed him.

"It's all my fault." Nightwing whispered, "I should've told him and I didn't, and now he's gone. He's out God knows where and he's probably wondering why we haven't found him."

Dick suddnely lunged from his seat with a snarl and he grabbed it and bashed it against the metal table causing it to fall to pieces.

"Why haven't we found him yet!" he screamed, "We're supposed to be the world's greatest detectives and we can't find a single thirteen-year old kid!"

Batman knew that if he didn't do something, Nightwing could very well have a breakdown then and there and that was not something he wanted the other heroes to see.

"Nightwing enough!" he shouted in a harsh voice. "Screaming and feeling sorry for yourself will not find Robin!"

Dick whirled around ferociously and lunged at Bruce, but Bruce pinned him against the wall before he could do any real harm. He leaned his head next to Dick's and whispered in his ear so the other two couldn't hear.

"I _know_ that this is hard for you." Batman whispered, "I know how much he means to you, but you are not the only one who is suffering from this. Believe it or not, there are a lot of people inside and outside the League who care about him, and while I may not show as well as you do, I love him too. I know that you hate me right now, and there's a good chance you're going to hate me for a long time, but I need you to work with me right now. I need your help to find him. Please Nightwing...I can't afford to lose another son."

By the end of Bruce's speech Dick was shocked. This was probably the most emotional thing he had ever heard Bruce say. He must've been desperate if he was letting himself open up like this. He sagged against Batman's grip and nodded.

"Okay." he said, "I'll do it."

Batman gently eased off of him and Nightwing straightened himself up and looked at Roy and Conner. Both were wearing equal expressions of shock at the emotion and animousity that was shown seconds earlier. But he knew that they were also waiting for his orders.

"Looks like we're going to be working with him from now on." Nightwing said to them.

"Are you sure?" Roy asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, now come on we should get some sleep while we can. It's going to be six in the morning." Nightwing said leading them towards the spare cots Batman kept in the cave.

"Guess it's true what they say." Roy quipped, "You Bats really are nocturnal creatures."

Batman froze at the computer where he was putting it at rest. He turned so quickly he almost gave himself whiplash. "What did you just say?"

Roy and the others stopped in their tracks. "Uh-sorry I guess I've spent too much time around KF."

Batman stalked towards Roy in enormous strides and he was standing at his full height and glaring down at Roy.

"What. did. you. _say_?" Batman repeated emphasizing each word.

"I-I said you Bats are-

Before he could finish his sentece, Batman was stalking towards the computer again.

"God what kind of** _idiot_ **have I been!" He snarled to himself as he restarted the computer, "Of all the careless, stupid mistakes I've made!"

"Batman stop." Nightwing said, "What are you talking about?"

"The Joker!" Batman snapped, "At Arkham he called me Batman!"

"Ok." Nightwing still wasn't sure what he was getting at.

"When have you ever known the Joker to call me by my full name."

Dick's eyes widened behind his mask as he realized what he was implying.

"He's never used your full name before."

"He's always called me Batsy or Batz." Bruce finished, "That wasn't the real Joker at Arkham."

"Then who was it?" Dick asked.

"That's what I'm about to find out." Batman strided towards the Batmobile, with Nightwing following closely behind him.

"You two follow us on the spare cycles!" He called to Roy and Conner as he jumped in the car with Bruce and they drove out leaving tire-tracks in the driveway of the Cave."

* * *

(Bosnia 12:00 pm)

They were finally landing, turns out they had to make a delay over russia to drop off some cargo to a mob boss. Once they had landed Jason's first plan of action was to go to the pilot's cockpit and slit his couldn't risk anyone finding out where he was, the pilot was a loose end.

He looked at the scenery in Bosnia . The weather was cloudy, and there was a small town about two miles from the airfield, nearly all of the buildings and houses were made of wood. They were completley surrounded by snow and large pine trees. Most people would think the scenery was picture perfect.

He was not one of those people.

'After all,' he thought, 'this is where I came to die.'

His boots crunched on the snow, the collar of his jacket was moving along with the breeze. Even though it was chilly he didn't really need a wintercoat, his usual leather jacket suited him just fine. He quickly got on one of the snowmobiles that was left out for the passengers. The ride to town only took about twenty minutes, he stopped a few stores down from a local bar. In a town this small, there was hardly any crime rate, but any information they had could be useful to him.

He quickly took off his red helmet and placed it in the duffelbage he carried with him, but kept his mask on. He put some shades on to cover the mask and walked slowly indoors.

It was the usual setting for a typical bar. Dim lighting, pool tables, rancid smells and a broken jukebox playing the same song over again. At the Bar counter was the usual array of badly dressed drunks. There were two bartenders on was a slightly overweight man in his sixties with thinning gray hair and the other a young man around his early to mid-twenties. He casually walked up to the barcounter and sat on a stool.

He asked for a beer and opened it with his teeth. He took a sip before speaking.

"Anybody here speak english?" he asked.

The bartender gave him a stink-eye while the other customers merely paused in their drinks, until someone finally broke the silence.

"Yeah, I do." said the younger. He had a slight accent as he spoke english. "Names Adis."

Jason ignored the introduction. "An old buddy of mine said I could find work here, at an old warehouse in the mountains. You know anything about that?"

"Do you mean the Phoenix Warehouse?" Adis asked, "That's a privately owned building. It got blown away six years backs, but someone rebuilt it about two years ago. But it's abandoned, nothing ever comes in or out of that building."

Jason believed it. Ra's probably had it built from the guilt he had over Jason's death. He probably kept it as a silent tribute, he wondered how often Ra's checked on it. It was a long shot, but Jason had to see for himself.

"Thanks." he said. He put some money on the counter for his barely-touched beer and stood up walking out of the bar.

He now had a lead. He was half-hoping that he was wrong.

* * *

The ride to Arkham was faster than Nightwing had expected, then again it didn't surprise him. The ride was quiet, but the tension could be cut with a butter knife. He could vaguely hear the roaring of Conner and Roy's two mortorcycles that followed closely behind them.

"You know what you're going to do?" Nightwing asked.

Batman had his fists clenched on the steering wheel, "I'm getting answers."

He almost shivered at the coldness in Batman's voice. Almost, if he weren't as focused and angry as he already was.

Before they knew it they were already at the gates. Batman stepped out of the vehicle and stroded to the gates with Nightwing, Red Arrow, and Superboy flanking him. Not bothering to speak with the guards at the front, he strided to the Level One Solitary Confinement cells. There was a single clerk at the front. Batman stood in front of the clerk who controlled the clerk was sipping his coffee and reading the newspaper. He felt a presence and when he looked up he spat it out.

"Batman! W-what are-

"Open it." Batman ordered.

"I-I can't just open it!" the clerk sputtered.

He was met with one of the famous Bat-Glares and he immediately complied with Batman's wishes.

Batman immediately strode in front of the Joker's cell, with more force than necessary he ripped the door open. He turned to Red Arrow and Kon.

"Stand Guard. **No one** gets in. Understand."

Both nodded at his demand and he nodded for Nightwing to follow him, to which he happily complied.

Nightwing shut the door behind him. He never thought he could hate a person, but the Joker proved him wrong.

"Batman." the Joker greeted, "I didn't expect to see you so soon after our last encounter."

Batman wasted no time. He ripped the Joker from his chains and slammed him against the floor.

"Where is he!" he roared.

"Now Batman I have

"You are not the real Joker, so tell me where he is." Batman snarled.

"So you've finally figured it out?" the fake Joker smirked. "Then my programming has been completed. I will now self-destruct in t-minus thirty seconds."

A beeping was starting to occur and Batman's eyes widened in realization and he grabbed Nightwing and bolted out the door.

"Let's go!" He cried to Red Arrow and Superboy, "There's a bomb!"

Both boy's eyes widened as they realized what he said and followed his command. Superboy went back for the clerk and pulled him out taking him along with them. They had closed the door to solitary confinement as the explosion occured.

It took them a minute to finally open the door and once they did they were met by a cloud of smoke. Batman grabbed an airmask from his utility belt and gave two more to Roy and Conner. Nightwing had his own mask out and followed Batman into the cell.

It was total chaos in the cell, the walls were ripped and blackened by the smoke and where the Joker used to be was nothing but a pile of scrap metal.

"An android?" Dick said incredulously. "You're telling me an android has been in the Joker's place this whole time and no one noticed? How could they not notice?"

Batman was glaing at one of the pieces where he could see the manufacturing logo on one of the scrap pieces. "Because it was a damn good copy."

He handed the piece to Nightwing who's eyes widened in realization.

"Ivo."

* * *

_(Bosnia: Bsjelesnca Mountains 7:30 pm) _

Jason was already in his Red Hood gear. He had placed the helmet back on once he was a safe distance away from the town. It had taken him about four hours to get to the warehouse. He took a moment to glance at where he had died. It was bigger than he remembered it, and it still brought shivers to his spine. He had armed himself with the last of his guns all loaded and ready for attack. He had underestimated the Joker the last time, he wasn't going to do it again.

He quietly stepped into the building. It was pitch black at first, he put the infrared vision in his helmet on. He looked around and found a lab of some sorts, two tables had test tubes and beakers filled with various chemicals, he looked to another table and saw that it had needles and syringes along with bags of heroin, meth, and cocaine.

_'What the hell has he been doing?' _Jason asked himself. He looked towards the center and saw another metal table in a slanted vertical position, his eyes widened at the sight.

There was Tim, being held by leather straps on the table still in the same civilian clothes he had worn since he had been kidnapped, his black jacket was long gone, his jeans were ripped and his hoodie was in no better shape and barely hanging by a thread. From the infrared vision he could see blood stains on his white t-shirt, and remarkably his shades were still on his face, but they were bent and broken. He was strapped to the table so tightly he could scarcely breathe. He could also see extreme pain expressed in Tim's features as he was shivering from both cold and pain.

Jason didn't think he could ever hate the Joker more than he did when he had killed him. He was dead wrong. This feeling had gone above and beyond any hatred for the Joker he had had before.

Jason immediately ran over to the kid. He unsheathed his knife from his ankle and sliced open the straps. Tim would have fallen had Jason not caught him. He gently cradled Tim in his arms as he kneeled on the ground, his hand felt wet and he pulled it back to see it covered with blood. His eyes widened as he turned Tim to examine his back and saw that it was completly raw, scabbed, and bloody. The hatred for Joker increased ten-fold. He gently feeling his body for any other damage. Much to Jason's rage, he could feel at least four broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and he could see that his ankle was either twisted or broken. Up close, Jason could also see bruises on his face, and his arms had little red dots littering over them.

Jason's eyes narrowed then widened in realization, he whipped his head back to the table with the needles, syringes, and drugs. There was a good chance he wasn't just shivering from the cold.

_'No.'_ he thought desperately, _'Please God no.'_

He could hear a small whimper escape Tim's mouth, before he could control them, words started coming out of Jason's mouth.

"It's okay." he whispered involuntarily, "You're ok now. I've got you."

Even though Tim was barely concious and in extreme pain he could still recognize that voice.

"Jason?" he whispered, both in awe and disbelief.

"Yeah kid, it's me." Jason said. "Don't worry. I'm gonna get you outta here."

Before they could speak any further they were interrupted by the sound of slow clapping, and the lights suddenly turned on. He turned furiously to find the Joker walking towards them doing the clapping.

"Well it's about time." The Joker said, "I was thinking I would have to send you people a calling card."

Jason snarled furiously as he pressed Tim's body closer to his own with one hand and used his other to whip out a gun from the inside of his Jacket. "Get. _The Hell_. **_Back_**."

The Joker raised his arms in mock surrender. "Oh dear you're armed, whatever shall I do?"

He opened one of his fists to reveal a detonator, which he pushed and caused a very small and minor explosion, but it was enough to make Jason lose his concentration and drop the gun. He jumped away from the Joker and hid behind one of the crates. He looked at Tim and gently laid him against one of the crates.

"Kid, Kid listen to me. Can you hear me?" Jason asked gently shaking Tim. Tim gave the slightest of nods, and Jason could tell that he was trying to pull himself together.

"Does the Joker have anyone else with him?" Jason asked.

Tim shook his head and Jason reached into his jacket and gave Tim a tazor and a whistle.

"Ok listen to me. I hate to do this but I need to leave you here." Jason said, "Take this and if the Joker comes near you hit him with this and if you can't then blow this whistle. Alright?"

Even though Tim nodded Jason could see the hesitancy in his movements, he gently held Tim's shoulders. "Hey listen to me, the Joker's never gonna lay a hand on you again, I promise. He's never gonna touch you again after tonight, understand? I need to go after him and find him so he can never hurt other people again."

Tim nodded and finally found the words to speak, "I'll *wheeze* be okay. Just *wheeze* find him."

Jason nodded and reluctantly left Tim behind the crates, he scanned the area, and he detected movement in his left and immediately ran after him.

He followed him in another room of the warehouse, and it looked like a home-theatre system. The was a t.v. in the center of the room and he saw that it was on and it was being prepared to play a DVD.

He would never forget what he saw on that day.

* * *

_(Flashback 6 weeks: Tim's torture.) **Be Warned**_

_Week 1_

_Tim was barley waking from his first encounter with the Joker. The first sensation he felt was pain, unbearable, searing pain, particularly in his ribs. He tried breathing but he gasped at the pain he felt. He was pretty sure they were bruised but not broken._

_He assessed himself and saw that his clothes were still in tact, and much to his relief his shades as well. His clothes were still a little damp and he could feel his body shivering from the cold._

_"Well Well, look who's finally awake." Joker said stepping from the shadows and circling him like he was prey. "Have a nice nap Timmy?"_

_"My names...not...Timmy!" Tim struggled to speak._

_"Really?" The Joker exagerrated his shocked face. "Then what is it?"_

_It didn't take long for him to come up with a name, "It's Conner. Conner Sargyon."_

_He was met with a crowbar to his face, but he didn't let out a grunt of pain, he didn't want to give the Joker the satisfaction of showing him weakness._

_"I told you already what happens to naughty boys." he said beating the crowbar against his hand. "Only naughty boys lie to people. You don't want to lie to me anymore do you Tim?"_

_"...not...TIM!" Tim screamed as best as he could._

_The Joker let out another sigh. "I guess I'll just have to repeat the lesson over and over again."_

_He raised the crowbar once more and continued his beating._

_(Week 2)_

_The Joker's beatings had been on and off for the past week. He asked the same questions which Tim never answered, and he was always met with the beating of the crowbar. It was the same pattern over and over again. _

_Today however, the Joker finally left the Warehouse which left Tim alone to think of an escape or at least a way to contact Batman and the others. He struggled against his bonds once more, which Joker had yet to remove from his wrists and legs. They were starting to scab over and get bloody. Tim sighed in exhaustion. He didn't have anything to eat, and he had to get his water from the melted snow that dripped through the ceiling and landed in puddles._

_He heard the door open and his gut gave an involuntary twist. He turned his head to see the Joker walking in carrying a medium-sized crate._

_"Ah Boy Wonder you're awake." he said, "I gotta say you're much more stubborn than the other two Robin's, you know you'd think you'd be more tired of the crowbar than I am, but not to worry, I've brought a wonderful substitute."_

_He opened the crate and took out a large bull-whip. Tim's eyes widened in fear._

_"Now let's not panic." The Joker said in a placating tone. "We can avoid all this unpleasantness if you just answer a few simple questions. In fact they're not even questions at all, I already know the answers to them, all you have to do is comfirm it."_

_He forced Tim to sit up and walked behind him. "Now just confirm this...is Bruce Wayne the Batman? You should know, he is your foster father after all."_

_"I don't know." Tim grounded out. He gave an involuntary scream of pain, unprepared for the whip that cracked against his back._

_The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt before. It was like a knife had been stabbed in his back and dragged all the way through. He had to hold back his tears, thankful for the shades he still had on. No matter how much pain he was in, Tim always made sure to keep his shades on no matter what. Like Batman had taught him, his identity was the most important possession he had, it was why he kept his family name, so the media and criminals couldn't connect Tim Drake to Bruce Wayne. Even though Tim was living with Bruce, he led his classmates to believe that he was being taken care of by a nanny his parents had hired._

_"Now did that hurt?" the Joker smirked at the long, bleeding red line that stretched across his back., "Why don't we try again. Now would you mind telling me who Jason Todd is."_

_"I don't know those people!" Tim shouted, desperate for any distraction from the pain he had. "I don't know Bruce Wayne and I don't know Jason Todd! I keep telling you-_

_He was cut off as he gave another scream of pain, this time the Joker whipped him two times._

_"I'm starting to get impatient here Timmy." he said in a cold voice, "Now just tell me what I want to know and the pain will stop."_

_"I'm-pant-not-Tim!" Tim panted out._

_The Joker gave a mock sigh, "I guess we'll just have to repeat the cycle again now don't we?"_

_He raised the whip again and continued._

_(Week 3)_

_It was starting to become a routine for Tim, the Joker would upgrade his punishments week by week. He would leave him alone for two to three days at a time. He would try to keep Tim in suspense, try to keep him in fear. The times he would come in he would bring Tim scraps of food that were expired and sometimes covered in mold_

_Unfortunately it worked._

_The Joker decided to expose Tim to his laughing gas this week. He sometimes laughed so hard, he actually broke the ribs that were cracked. His back was completely raw, his clothes in shreds and barely hanging by the threads._

_He had lost hope in contacting Batman, and focused all his energy in not saying anything to the Joker. _

_(Week 4)_

_Electric table._

_He was strapped to one of the cold, metal tables where the Joker would put jump cables on either side and they were always connected to an electric generator. _

_He always thought the Joker's tortures couldn't get any worse._

_He was always wrong._

_His voice has been long gone due to the constant screaming he had done._

_But he never said a word._

_Not a single word_

_(Week five)_

_The Joker finally gave him the drugs. Often in large doses. Doses that should've killed him._

_Heroin_

_Meth_

_Cocaine_

_They were a welcome change. During those times he was numb, it was as though nothing could hurt him. _

_He was ignorant of the world. _

_Until the Joker started asking questions. The same ones he always asked. The ones Tim always denied._

_Once the drugs wore off, the withdrawls came._

_Shivers_

_Paranoia_

_Anxiety _

_Violent spasms._

_Tim would cry, plead, and beg the Joker for more_

_"Please." he would whimper, "Please."_

_It was truly a pathetic sight._

_"Tell me what I want to know." the Joker would always say._

_And Tim would say nothing._

_Nothing at all._

_And he was left alone to cry on the cold stone floor._

_(Week 6)_

_Tim had given up by now. He was sure that he was going to die. But he would die with Bruce's secret._

_There were no new tortures today. The Joker started giving him monolouges._

_"You know Timmy." he said to him as he was sitting down eating a sandwich, forcing Tim to watch him eat. "I know that it's been rough on you these past few weeks, but I just want to assure you that this was nothing personal. It's just business."_

_He stopped to swallow then continued, "You know I gotta hand it to you kid, six weeks and not a single word outta you. That's loyalty right there, but I wonder if the Bat would do the same for you. You'd think that old Batsy would've been here by now, but nope. I can honestly say that I'm surprised, who knows maybe he's already found a replacement for you."_

_Tim couldn't respond even if he wanted to. He was completely numb and every movement in his body caused him pain._

_"It's not looking to good for you Timmy and you probably have a right to know why." The Joker stood up and started circing Tim's table._

_"It all started last year, when an interesting fellow by the name of Red Hood, of course it was my name first and I wore a classy suit, a kind of flashy maitre'd, not like this motorcycle fetish this new Hood has going on, ahh kids today." The Joker shook his head, "But I'm getting off topic. Anyway, the day came for our fated meeting and imagine my surprise when I find out it's the second Boy Wonder, the very one that I killed...in this very building."_

_Tim's eyes widened, and even with his shades on the Joker could tell._

_"Oh, didn't know that did you?" he said smirking. "I wonder what else he hasn't told you. Anyways we have our big confrontation, but of course good ol' bird boy hid me in the closet so I could make my big entrance, and imagine what was going through my head once I heard the names 'Bruce' and 'Jason' and imagine my excitement once I realized that they had just revealed their identities to me."_

_Tim struggled to speak, "Not...ho...ou...say they...are."_

_The Joker gave a pitying smile, of course there was no real pity in it, and he reached out to stroke his cheek. Tim violently cringed away and the Joker cackled._

_"There's stilll life in you, you're a stubborn one alright." he said, "Anyways, I knew that once I was back in Arkham I needed to gather info, so I called on an old friend. A friend by the name of Professor Ivo. He was more than happy to help me, especially when I was holding a knife to his throat, and he gathered all the information I needed. Of course the only Bruce and Jason that were connected to each other was of course Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd, which led me to believe that the first Robin was none other than Richard Grayson. Now you on the other hand you were very hard to track down. It took us weeks to find out about you, but when we got a list of Brucie's good friends we of course found Jack and Janet Drake, and then you, and your physical description was so similar to the current Robin today, it was no surprise. And then of course I planned my big escape, Ivo had been creating one of his Amazo androids for me, one look and it was like looking in a mirror. So when laundry day came along, I jumped in the basked along with my dirty clothes, and the android took my place. And here we are today."_

_He held out his arms open in a grand gesture._

_"Ah don't worry Timmy, pretty soon I'll send a calling card to Batsy and then...the grand finale awaits!"_

_His cackling was the last thing on the DVD._

_(End Flashback)_

The Joker was speaking through a viewing window in another room.

"The kid never told," he said, "Not once. I tried every trick in the book, but not once did he ever even hint at the identity of Batman, or you two Bird Brains. I gotta say he's got guts. And a very high tolerance for pain. He had to have one for all the stuff I did to him, I mean it was so much worse to what I did to you. I almost felt sorry for him...although it was a little satisfying to hear him cry and beg. I'd laugh at him if it wasn't so pathetic."

The Joker appeared as if he was contemplating something, "Ah to hell with it. I'll laugh anyway."

He then proceeded to cackle maniacally again.

Then of course he was interrupted by the sound of the glass breaking. Jason had literally jumped into the room, kicking the glass and the Joker along with it.

The Joker was winded for a second and then he tried to get up but Jason had grabbed him by the throat and threw him agains the wall

"I'll kill you!" he roared in a voice that wasn't his own. "I _swear to God _I'm going to kill you!"

Jason had never been this angry before. Not when the Joker had killed him, not when Bruce had failed to avenge his death, and not when they had their confrontation last year.

The Joker wouldn't live after tonight, he was going to kill him here and now. He reached for his gun, but the Joker had pulled a fast one on him The Joker pulled out a cayanne pepper bomb and smashed it into Jason's eyes. Jason screamed in pain as he instinctively dropped the Joker and covered his eyes.

The Joker took that opportunity to pull a knife from his jacket and proceeded to stab Jason in the shoulder. Afterwards he kicked Jason in the groin and pushed him to the ground with his foot. The constant attacks threw Jason off, and he was still in a daze from the pepper bomb and the stab in the shoulder leaving him vulnerable to the tazor the Joker pulled out. The shocks he experienced were incredibly painful and his screams expressed them. Once he was finally done, Jason couldn't move, and with bleary vision he could see the Joker standing over him with a foot on his chest.

"Well." he chuckled, "Look's like I'm going to kill two birds with one stone tonight."

He grabbed one of the guns that fell from Jason's jacket and kneeled down and pressed it over his heart.

His finger was on the trigger.

**BANG!**

**

* * *

**

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! *laughs evilly as I rub my hands together*

Cliff hangers! You gotta love'em!

Now if you people want to know what happens next, you know what you must do.

*pause for effect*

...*still pausing*

**REVIEW RIGHT NOW!**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own Batman, Red Hood, Young Justice, or it's characters.

Yay 50 reviews!

To celebrate I've decided to bring an early update!

Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

* * *

Jason was waiting for the pain to come, and he shut his eyes once he heard the shot accepting his inevitable death, but surprisingly he didn't feel anything. For a moment he thought he was dead, but he felt the weight on his chest vanish. He cautiously opened his eyes and his vision was much more clearer.

He was alive.

'How?' he thought as he sat himself up.

He received his answer once he found the Joker's body sprawled away from his own. The top of his skull was completely blown off, blood, brain fluids and chunks sprawled onto the floor and his eyes were still open. Jason's eyes widened behind his mask at the sight, and he turned his head to find the culprit.

Tim was standing in the doorway with a smoking gun in his hands looking as though he himself didn't believe what he had just done. Jason immediately recognized it as the gun he had dropped when the Joker had detonated the minor explosion.

Jason was too shocked to say anything for a minute. Finally he found his voice.

"Kid?" he asked.

"Is he gone?" Tim asked.

"Yeah." Jason answered with a small laugh of relief as he looked back at the Joker's corpse, "Safe to say that he won't ever wake up again."

"He's really gone?" Tim reiterated, as if he wanted to make sure he was absolutely dead.

"Yeah kid, he's really gone." Jason repeated turning to look at Tim.

Once Tim heard those words he let himself go completely. He dropped the gun and sunk to his knees sobbing hysterically all the while. Great fat tears were rolling down his cheeks as his body started to shake violently from the uncontrollable sobs that wracked his body, causing his shades to finally fall off revealing that he had sunken dark blue eyes.

Jason's heart broke a little when he saw Tim's eyes surrounded by black skin, and they held no light whatsoever.

Jason didn't know how to react. He was never good with comforting kids, but he couldn't stand by and watch him suffer. He slowly walked towards him so he wouldn't scare him, and knelt to one knee. Tim wasn't paying attention or rather he couldn't.

Jason slipped his leather jacket off, it's armory long gone in the fight with the Joker, and gently draped it around Tim's shoulders trying to be careful of the injuries on Tim's back. He was unprepared as Tim suddenly lunged himself into Jason's chest and cried even harder, fisting his hands and clutching Jason's shirt tightly.

Tim wasn't being logical right now. He finally allowed himelf to feel every inch of the shock, pain, and fear that he had suffered for the past six weeks. Right now he wasn't the strong, resistant soldier that Batman had trained, he was a scared thirteen-year-old kid who needed someone..._anyone_ to comfort and protect him.

For a moment Jason just stared at Tim's sobbing form in shock, unsure of what to do. Finally Jason slowly wrapped his arms around Tim's smaller body and pulled him closer.

He couldn't help but notice how small Tim was, so much smaller and younger than he was when he faced the Joker.

_'This never should have happened.'_ he thought fiercely, _'He shouldn't have gone through this.'_

_'Dammit Bruce.'_ his concience said, _'You should've been here to protect him.'_

_Like you should've been there to protect me. _

He pulled Tim even closer and started to say nonsense words again.

"It's okay." he said to him rubbing the back of his head while keeping the other wrapped around his back. "It's okay, I've got you. Everything's gonna be okay now."

But it wouldn't be. He wasn't sure if things would ever be okay for Tim again.

Finally after an hour, Tim had fallen asleep. Jason wrapped his jacket more securely around Tim and placed an arm under his knees and kept the other around his shoulders gently picking him up. Being careful to not jostle him, he stretched one of his arms and pressed a button on his mask dialing a number he knew all too well.

"It's me." he said, "I'm gonna need a ride back to your place for awhile, and you're going to need a med team ready. I'm sending you the coordinates, be prepared for the worst."

He ended the call without hearing a response on the other end. He looked back at Tim, who's head rested against his shoulder.

"Don't worry kid." he whispered. "I'll take care of you."

_Better than Bruce ever did._

* * *

_(Gotham 1:00pm)_ **(AN: Bosnia is about seven hours ahead of time in NY which is where Gotham is located. Try to bear with me, I'm trying to make this as accurate as I can! *W*)**

Bamtan was furious. They had spent the entire morning following leads from the Amazo android. The first thing they did after the explosion was check with Professor Ivo, but it turns out he created an android of himself as well and Batman had made sure to deactivate the android before it could cause another explosion. Now they had two missing crimials and no clue as to where Robin was.

They left Arkham with even more questions and less answers.

Once they were in the Batcave, they waited for Batman's instructions. Kon was leaning against a wall with one leg elevated and pressed against the wall while the other was on the ground with his arms crossed, Roy stood next to him crossing his arms as well. Dick was standing next to Batman. Batman placed a hand on the hood of the Batmobile and placed the other over his eyes. He took a great big sigh before he finally spoke.

"We need to call in the League." he said to them.

All of them were shocked, especially Dick. Batman never turned for help in his own city, especially when it covered his personal affairs. If he was doing this, then he was seriously getting desperate.

"Why didn't you call them in the first place?" Dick demanded, "We could've found him that much sooner!"

"This was my responsibilty to deal with." Batman snapped, "I didn't need to involve more people than necessary. Besides, they had other responsibilities to deal with."

Dick knew it was pointless to argue, and he knew that he could've asked for more help, but he was so focused on finding Tim himself, he didn't think to ask anyone else for help. So he really couldn't blame Bruce.

Batman pressed a few keys and finally J'onn's face appeared on the screen.

"Batman." he said in a slightly surprised voice. "I was not expecting your call. How is the search for Robin?"

"That's what I called about." Bruce said clenching his fist on the keyboard. "I need your help. I need the League's help."

"Of course." J'onn said sobering up. "We'll do everything in our power to help."

"Tell them to meet me at Mt. Justice." Batman said, "Call the members of Young Justice, they might as well become involved, we can't keep them from this any longer."

Conner snorted in response. An action that caused Batman to glare in his direction.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

"Why should we involve them now?" Conner demanded pushing himself from the wall he was leaning against, "They didn't seem to care when we needed them six weeks ago. Give me a reason as to why they should involve themselves now"

"He's right." Roy agreed, "If they were really determined to find Robin they would've followed us that day regardless of what the League decided."

"You two have no idea what you're talking about." Batman said coldly, "It's arrogant of you two to think you're the only ones who were affected by Robin's disappearance."

"Tell us then." Roy challened standing to his full height. "Tell us exactly how much they've been affected by this, because they seemed perfectly fine following the League's orders. They didn't even put up a fight."

"As soon as you left the team disbanded themselves, Aqualad resigned as leader and went back to Atlantis with Aquaman." Batman explained, "When Robin disappeared, he blamed himself. He said that it was his duty as Team Leader to protect all of his teammates and he failed. No matter what any of us said to him we couldn't persuade him otherwise. Kid Flash left for Central City the very same night you two left. He said that if they weren't going to use their resources to look for Robin then there was no point in staying at all. Kid Flash has known Robin the longest, and he's his best friend. If anything it's been the hardest on him, he's doesn't even go on patrol with Flash anymore. Miss Martian left for Mars the day after. According to Man Hunter, she's been inconsolable not only for Robin's loss, but for the loss of her team as well."

Both Roy and Conner were shocked as Batman explained all this. They had no idea that the team had reacted so radically when they left. But it didn't surprise them. Robin was the glue that held the team together, and when he disappeared everything fell apart.

"Follow me." he said to them walking to the Transporter platform, "We meet with them in an hour."

The followed and while they wouldn't admit it, they were anxious to see how their teammates would react when they saw them again."

(Atlantis: Same time)

Kaldur was practicing with Tula and Garth. While he was surprised and a little hurt when he heard of their relationship, but he easily overcame it and wished them both luck.

When he returned to Atlantis he continued his studies, and Garth and Tula were helping him whenever they could.

It had been hard on him these last six weeks, he thought about Robin constantly. He kept wondering if he was safe, had he been found, or...He never let himself finish that thought, he refused to believe that Robin was dead.

His friends in Atlantis grew worried for him. When Kaldur had first returend to Atlantis he could barely function, he would hardly eat and sleep and he spent most of his time training constatnly often violently, and he would collapse from exhaustion after almost every session. It finally took a talking from Queen Mera to get him to take better care of himself. He was never alone, either Garth or Tula were always near him making sure he didn't get too far with his training. Even though he would smile or laugh whenever they hung out together they both knew it was fake. Once they discovered the reason he returned to Atlantis they both immediately understood.

Robin was probably the most important teammate to Kaldur on his team. Whenever Kaldur sent them messages from the surface world, he would always speak of his teammates, but he spoke about Robin in the highest regard. He would constantly tell them stories about how much he admired him and how he had helped him with his leadership duties, or how Robin had somehow managed to uplift their spirits whenever they were down. Although Kaldur may not have realized it, they both knew that he considered Robin a little brother.

Just as Kaldur held a Water-sphere over his head ready to attack the target they were practicing, he noticed a movement to his right and looked.

Queen Mera was approaching them and they all immediately stood attention and bowed to her.

"Kaldur, my husband requires your presence." she told him.

"Yes your Majesty." Kaldur bowed, he turned to Tula and Garth.

"I will catch up with you later." he said and they both nodded understandably.

Kaldur had swam into the throneroom where King Orin was waiting. He got to his knees and bowed before his feet.

"My King." he said while still bowing.

"Rise Kaldur'ahm." Aquaman said. Kaldur did as he was told.

"Is everything alright, my King?" Kaldur asked.

"The Justice League has called upon us Kaldur." Aquaman explained, "More specifically for you."

For a moment Kaldur was confused then it dawned on him.

"Is it Robin?" he asked urgently, "Is he alright? Has he been found?"

Aquaman shook his head sadly, "I'm afraid not. He is still missing."

Kaldur noticably drooped and it hurt Aquaman to see his protoge in such pain.

"They have called upon you to help with the search." he explained and Aqualad looked up in shock.

"They need me...to help?" he asked, "But last time-

"The situation has become far more dire for Batman." Aquaman said solemnly, "May the Gods help him, I can only imagine the kind of pain he's suffering. Mera and I pray to the Gods everyday for Robin's safe return, Poseidon only know what I would go through should anything happen to you or my unborn child."

Kaldur was both shocked and touched to hear Aquaman say that, he had always seen his King as a type of father figure. To hear it from his own mouth though was indescribable.

"Am I even worthy to help?" he asked himself.

"Why do you doubt yourself Kaldur?" Aquaman asked.

"Because!" Aqualad suddenly blurted, finally releasing the anger he had held in, "If I had been a better leader Robin would still be here!"

"Kaldur you mustn't continue to blame yourself." Aquaman said firmly, "Robin's disappearance was not your fault."

"Then why do I feel this way?" Kaldur asked helplessly his fists shaking, "Why do I feel like if I had done something different Robin wouldn't have disappeared! I could've ordered the team to stay in groups, I could've stayed with him myself! Why Majesty...why does it hurt so much?"

"Because Robin was a comrade and a friend, and losing a teammate as fine as him is truly a great tragedy indeed." Aquaman said. "It's understandable to feel loss and grief over his disappearance, and as leader you feel the need to take responsibility for your teammates. Believe me I know, it's the same way I feel as a King to my subjects. Although I must say I never expected you to get so attached to one of your team members."

"I should have followed Red Arrow and Superboy." Kaldur suddenly said to himself, but Aquaman heard.

"Do not consider yourself a failure for not following them." he said in a firmer voice, "You had other responsibilities and obligations, even if you wanted to you wouldn't have been able to."

"I did want to." Kaldur finally looked at the King's eyes. "I wanted to follow them so terribly, but I couldn't. It pained me not to, but as you said I had responsibilites to the team and to the Kingdom. If I had left, there might've been another tragedy."

Aquaman sighed and finally stepped from the throne, he placed a hand on Kaldur's shoulder looking him straight in the eyes. "Kaldur, you are a fine warrior and leader. Blaming yourself for things you have no control over is not beneficial for yourself nor to the people around you."

"What should I do?" Kaldur asked, looking more like a vulnerable sixteen-year old than a warrior of Atlantis.

"Go to them and help with the search. That is where you are needed now." Aquaman said, "Furthermore, you must let go of the blame and guilt you feel, you must accept that Robin's disappearance was not your fault. You did everything in your power as a leader, to keep them safe. I know...I know for a fact that Robin would not blame you."

Kaldur lowered his head slightly. "I...understand what you are saying my liege. However...it will take longer for me to accept that."

Aquaman gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I believe in you Kaldur, and I know that Robin does too. Why else would he have chosen you as their leader?"

Kaldur's eyes widened as he realized that Aquaman was right. Robin did choose him, he persuaded everyone else to choose him as well. He had wasted too much time feeling sorry for himself, he needed to get his act together and search for Robin. He owed him that much.

"When do I leave?" he asked with a renewed determined glint in his eyes.

Aquaman smiled. "Right now."

(Central City)

Bart had finished his homework for the next week in five minutes. He was leaning against his headboard bouncing a tennis ball against his bedroom wall.

Ever since Robin's disappearance and the disbandment of the team, Bart had basically stopped his crime-fighting. He would eat, sleep, go to school, and do chores, but other than that nothing. He never cracked jokes, he hardly smiled anymore. He was nothing but a shell of his former self. It was starting to worry his parents, and his aunts and uncles.

His hand was poised to catch the tennis ball as it bounced against the wall again but a red gloved hand beat him to it. He looked up to find his uncle standing over him with a grin to his face.

"Hey kid, how's life?" Flash asked.

"What are you doing here Uncle Wally?" Bart asked bluntly, wanting to get to the point.

"Thought I'd visit my favorite nephew and see if he wanted to join me in kicking some criminal butt." Wally said.

"Thanks but no thanks." Bart said grabbing the tennis ball and bouncing it back, only to have Flash grab the ball once again.

"C'mon kid, you've gotta stop moping around." Wally said taking on a serious face, "You're starting to worry everybody around. This isn't you."

"I'm fine." Bart huffed turning away from him.

"Tim wouldn't want you to act this way." Wally said. "You and I both know that.

Finally Bart snapped.

"Don't!" he suddenly screamed leaping to his feet. "Don't you ever talk about him again! You don't know what he would want! You have no idea what he would want because he's not here!"

Wally's eyes softened behind his mask as he reached out towards him. "Bart come on-

"Stop!" Bart said pushing him away. He was starting to lose control over his emotions. Anger, sadness, and depression all bubbled up the surface as he started to shake. He grabbed his hair and started to shake his head. "He's not here! He's not here and it's all my fault! He's been gone this whole time and what have I been doing nothing! Absolutely nothing!"

His shaking was starting to get out of control and with his speed it could turn dangerous. Wally knew he had to do something to calm him down. He quickly grabbed his shoulders and tried to stop the shaking.

"Bart listen to me. This was not your fault." he said calmly, "His disappearance was not your fault, and you know why you couldn't get involved with the search. The League forbade it and you know you can't go against the League."

"Conner and Roy did." Bart said as he finally looked at his uncle. Tears were starting to form in his eyes. "They both left to find him, not caring about what the League said, and I didn't. He's my best friend, Wally, what kind of friend was I not to follow them?"

"If you had followed them you would've been kicked out of the League." Wally said trying to reason with him. "Tim wouldn't want that. If you were in Tim's shoes would you have wanted him to throw away everything he worked for?"

"It wouldn't have mattered." Bart replied, finally allowing his tears to fall. "He would've done it no matter what anybody would say to him. He's that kind of friend, he would've risked everything to find me, he'd even go against Batman if he had to. And I did nothing."

Wally finally pulled him into his arms holding him while he cried. "You can't do this to yourself kid. This is not your fault, and whether you want to believe me or not, I know Tim wouldn't blame you. He would've understood."

"I miss him Uncle Wally." Bart sobbed, hugging Wally tightly.

"I know." Wally said rubbing his back, "You're not alone in that. I miss him too, and so do a lot of people in the League. Trust me when I say that it's killing us that we can't find him, but moping around and being angry at ourselves won't find him."

"What am I supposed to do?" Bart asked finally looking up.

"Get your costume ready." Wally said, zipping away and holding it out once he came back. "Batman called us. We're going to find Robin."

Bart looked at him in surprise. "You're serious?"

Wally nodded, "He's calling back all of the Young Justice, you guys are gonna need every advantage you have if you want to find him. So come on, clean up your face and suit up."

In less than a second Bart had washed his face and had his suit on. "Ready."

"Let's go."

(Mars) (AN: I'm basing Mars on what I've seen from the T.V. show Justice League, and J'onn's original form. Just picture that.)

Megan was looking out the window of her room on Mars, she had reverted back to her original form the moment she returned. Ever since her return from Earth she had worried her parents, she hardly ever spoke to her friends and siblings on Mars. She never did any of her usual activities anymore like gardening, reading, and socializing with her friends, she would often spend her time walking out the deserts and staring into the sky looking at the exact spot where Earth was. Her Uncle J'onn would visit her often during the first two weeks of her return, but he soon had gotten caught up in his responsibilities for the League which she understood.

So she was surprised when she saw her uncle walk into her room. She gave him a weak smile, but didn't get up from her bed. "Uncle J'onn, what a nice surprise."

"M'gann I've come to bring you news." J'onn said. "It concerns Robin."

"What do you mean?" she asked perking up, "Is everything alright?"

She saw the look on his face and assumed the worst. "Oh no...he's not-Uncle J'onn please tell me that he's not-

"No M'gann." he said walking over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder, "Robin is not gone, he is, however, still missing. Which is why the League has called upon your assistance. They are renewing the Young Justice team and they require your skills to help look for him."

"I don't understand." She asked, "They didn't want us to help before, they said our emotions would get in the way, so why now?"

"The situation has gotten serious, M'gann." J'onn said gravely. "Earth time passes much more quickly than it does on Mars." (AN I'm making that up)

"How long has it been?" M'gann asked standing up and grasping her uncle's arm. "Uncle J'onn?"

"Six weeks. It has been six weeks on Earth."

Megan gasped audibly and put her hands in front of her face. "It's been that long? But barely two weeks have passed on Mars."

"As I've said before, Earth time passes more quickly than Mars." J'onn repeated.

Megan fell to her bed and looked at her hands in her lap. "But if it's been six weeks then...

She suddenly looked at J'onn with a ferocious desperation. "Why hasn't Robin been found yet! I thought Batman was the best the League had! How can Robin not be found yet!"

"M'gann please." J'onn said, trying to calm her down, "There were some complications in the search, and Robin's abductors have covered their tracks very well."

"I just don't understand." Megan said, "With all of the League's resources how could Robin not have been found yet?"

"Batman refused help from the League." J'onn explained, "He feels as though he shouldn't have burdened the League with Robin's disappearance. Of course we tried to have him reconsider, but he wouldn't be dissuaded. The best we could do was offer all of the League's resources, unfortunately it hasn't been enough."

Megan tried to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. Even though she and Robin didn't get to spend that much time together, she still cared about him a great deal. He would even joke around with her and call her 'Sister'. The fact that he still wasn't found terrified her.

"M'gann I know that this is a lot to ask of you." J'onn said, "And you are more than welcome to decide not to go."

"No." Megan said quickly looking at her uncle. J'onn was surprised, his niece was normally a mild-mannered, and peaceful girl, however the seriousness and ferocity in her eyes said otherwise. "I'm going. I already failed Robin when I refused to stay on Earth. I'm not going to make that same mistake again. I'm going back, and I will do whatever it takes to find Robin."

"If you are sure then." J'onn said, "Follow me."

Megan nodded and shifted her form to her Young Justice uniform and followed her uncle back to the transporter that took him there.

* * *

_(Bosnia)_

Jason waited for a half-hour before his ride finally arrived. Once he saw the cars pull up, he wrapped his jacket more tightly around Tim and pulled him even closer trying to keep him as warm as possible as he prepared to go outside. He had taken his gun and the DVD, he made sure to keep the Joker's corpse out of Tim's sight. Not that he needed to worry, Tim was still asleep. He scowled behind his mask at the approaching cars; he honestly didn't want to deal with_ them_, but he had no choice. They were the only ones who were well-equipped to handle Tim's injuries, which needed immediate attention.

Two large black SUVs finally pulled to the front of the warehouse, where an auburn-haired woman with violet eyes stepped out of the passengers seat. She had on a white fur coat with her black body suit underneath it. A large, brawny male stepped out of the driver's side, and similar men came out of the second SUV. All of them had their guns ready and poised for attack waiting for her command. She held her arm in a calming matter, telling them not to panic but to stay alert at the same time.

Finally the door opened and out came Jason in his silver muscle shirt and black cargo pants. She was surprised that he didn't have his leather jacket on especially at this temperature. However her questions were answered when she saw the bundle in his arms and was shocked to discover that it was a child.

"What on earth-Jason what happened? Who is that?" She asked as he approached her and she gasped as she saw the state of Tim's injuries. "Dear God...what happened to him?"

"Not now Talia." he growled, "This kid's been through Hell and back. He needs treament now."

Without a further word he went to go into the car, but Talia's muscle men held their guns at the ready but Talia gave a dismissive wave of her hand.

"It's alright." she said, "Let them through."

They put their weapons down and Jason settled into the back of the SUV. He held Tim in his lap and rubbed his arms trying to warm him up. He was surprised to find a blanket being held out to him. He looked up to find Talia with the blanket.

"Use this." She said, looking at Tim with concern, "I've already contacted our best doctors, they should be prepared by the time we arrive."

Jason took the blanket without a word of thanks and wrapped it around Tim. He looked back to the warehouse.

"Talia." he called.

She looked back to him and he gestured to the building.

"Torch it." he said, "I want that godforsaken hell-hole burned to the ground."

Talia was nervous to hear Jason speak so harshly, but it didn't surprise her. He always did have a bad temper. She signaled half her men to destroy the warehouse while she and her driver got back into their cars, and started driving to Talia's mansion.

In the back of the car Jason could hear the explosions and the flames, and for once in his life he welcomed it.

* * *

_(Happy Harbor: Mt. Justice)_

Superboy, Red Arrow and Nightwing were all waiting for the others to arrive. Batman had gone to the briefing room to prepare the data they had gathered and to meet with the other League founders.

Finally after ten minutes the computer announced the arrival of Aquaman and Kaldur, they both walked in and Aquaman excused himself saying that he needed to meet with Batman in the briefing room.

Aqualad was nervous to be in the same room with Red Arrow, and Superboy and he was unsure on how to approach them, nonetheless he walked towards them and a hero in black that he had not identified.

"Superboy. Red Arrow." Kaldur greeted. Both heroes remained cold however, so he turned to the unidentified vigilante.

Nightwing held out his hand to shake Aqualad's. "Name's Nightwing. I already know who you are, Robin told me about you."

Kaldur's heart clenched a little at the mention of Robin. "I see."

Before anything else could be said. Flash and Kid Flash zipped in. Flash was anxious to see his old teammates again, and like Kaldur he had no idea how to approach them. Luckily Kaldur broke the ice yet again.

"It's good to see you Kid Flash." he said to him.

"Yeah, you too." Wally automatically responded. He nodded towards Roy and Conner. "Guys."

Roy scoffed and turned his head away, but Conner at least gave them both a nod of acknowledgement. Just as he did so, a flash appeared in the middle of the room and Megan and J'onn stood in the spot.

Once Megan saw her old teammates again, she smiled at them and walked towards the group. For once, Bart didn't try to flirt with her he just accepted the hug.

"I'm really glad to see you Bart." Megan said as she squeezed him tightly. She let him go and went towards Kaldur, repeating the same process.

She finally reached Superboy and Red Arrow, but she decided against hugging them. "Hello Superboy, Red Arrow."

"Hi." Superboy said simply.

He was still angry with them for not standing by them when they left the League, but he knew that he would have to get over it if he was going to work with them. They needed every single person they could get if they were going to find Robin.

Batman and the other League Founders; Wonder Woman, Superman, Aquaman, J'onn, and Flash had entered the room. None of them looked optimistic.

"I'm not going to lie to you." Batman said, "We're no closer to finding Robin now than we were six weeks ago. The only leads we have to go on are the androids. Two teams will be deployed, one will try to locate the Joker, while the other tries to find Professor Ivo. Your group will be assigned to locate Ivo, while the Justice League searches for the Joker."

He handed Megan a computer chip. "This contains all of the Data that was inside Ivo's android, it's basically nothing more than superficial information about him, but since he's been impersonating Ivo, you might be able to get a signature from it."

Megan nodded in understanding as she held the chip in her hand. Batman then turned to Aqualad.

"Come with me." he said, he addressed the rest of the group, "Superman will debrief the rest of you."

He pulled Aqualad into a corner of the room, where they couldn't be overheard, as long as Superman and Superboy didn't use their super-hearing to eavesdrop.

"I'm placing you back into the roll of Leader." Batman said, which threw Aqualad for a loop.

"But why?" he asked, "Surely someone else-

"There is nobody else." Batman said, "The others are too emotionally compromised, and that includes Nightwing."

"But he is the most experienced." Aqualad argued.

"Nightwing will be assigned with me." Batman explained, "Besides he's the one who's most likely to lose control, he'll use any means necessary to find Robin no matter what the consequences, we can't jeopardize any more of our partners. You are the only person on the team who can stay focused without letting your emotions get in the way."

Before Kaldur could open his mouth to argue he remembered the words his king said to him. He couldn't focus on the past, and he couldn't keep blaming himself for what happened to Robin. In order to find him he needed to be one hundred percent focused on the job.

He finally nodded, "I understand."

"Good." Batman said, he turned and began walking back towards the group but stopped himself and turned his head back to Kaldur.

"Don't sell yourself short." he said reiterating the same words Aquaman said himself, "Robin never would have picked you to lead if he didn't have complete faith in you."

"Do you think he would still have faith in me now?" Kaldur asked.

"I know for a fact that he would never blame you, nor the rest of the team." Batman answered. "He would never blame any of us, and if he had to make the choice between sacrificing his own life or ours it would be no question: He would always chose himself, because he cares about us that much."

Kaldur nodded, knowing what Batman was saying was true. Batman gestured with his head to follow him which Kaldur did, knowing that he had to keep himself together for the team's sake, but more importantly... for Robin's sake.

No more hiding and no more self-pity.

The time to act was now.

He only prayed that they weren't too late.

* * *

Phew! This chapter was a little hard for me to write, and I know it's not as long as my other chapters but hopefully it holds up.

It's nice to see everyone giving this story such a great response.

I'll try and have the next update up by this weekend. EMPHASIS on TRY!

You never know what might pop up.

So until then, I bid you adeu.

(I think that's how you spell it. Isn't it? Oh Well! 0w0)


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice

Okay, I know that it's shorter than my usual chapters and I am so sorry! but I really wanted to keep my promise and update this weekend.

It's sunday! Technically it's still the weekend!

So once again I would like to thank all of my reviewers. I'm so glad that I got such a nice response for my last chapter. I really hope that you like this one too.

OH! and before I forget I would like to give a special thanks to Shinigami of Nightmares!

Thanks so much for your help! It really did give me an insight to Jason's past and how he was looked upon by everyone.

So thanks again Shinigami! I hope that you like this chapter!

So please Read n Review!

* * *

The ride to Talia's Mansion took about an hour.

Jason didn't really talk. He just stared at the snowy scenery out the window thinking about Talia and Ra's. While he owed his resurrection to Talia and her father, they were also responsible for what the Pits did to his mind. Not to mention that it was Talia who had found him, healed him, and ultimately trained him back to get back to his physical peak. She was also the one who had told him that Bruce had left Joker alive. When Jason had heard those words he couldn't believe it, he never believed that Bruce would have let the Joker live after what he had done. A big mistake that was.

A mistake that Tim had to pay the price for.

Jason's arms tightened as he glanced at the teen in his arms again. He didn't look any better, despite the extra warmth he received. There was a good chance that along with the scars, bruises and drug addictions, he was probably sick as well.

By all rights Tim shouldn't be alive. Any other person would've died from either the injuries, or addictions.

He had to hand it to the kid, he had guts. He knew for a fact that there was no way that him and Grayson could have survived as long as Tm did. Hell, he didn't even survive for one night with the psycho.

They finally arrived and like Talia promised a team of their personal doctors was waiting for them. Jason immediately ran out of the car, but he was reluctant to hand Tim over.

"Jason you have my word, on my Father's life, he will be in good hands." Talia promised and Jason knew that if she used her father's name she meant it.

He finally laid Tim down on a gurney and they rolled him out to the medical ward. The events finally took a toll on him and he sank down to one of the chairs and held his head in his hands. He reached to the back of his helmet and pressed the buttons that released the restraints and he lifted it from his head.

He ran a hand through his hair as he bowed his head. He wasn't really a person of religion, but he prayed anyway. He prayed to any deity out there that Tim would be okay.

He had been waiting for over three hours, he was starting to get restless and pacing the room wasn't helping him.

He finally noticed Talia standing right next to him.

"What do you want?" he asked bluntly.

"An explanation." she said with her arms crossed giving a look that showed she wasn't backing down. "After all, I'm risking an awful lot by bringing you here without my father's permission."

"Right, like he dosen't know." Jason snorted.

"Who was that child?" she asked deciding to ignore his comment.

"His name's Tim." Jason answered. "He's Bruce's new partner."

Talia's eyes widened.

"What? You actually didn't know?" Jason said, "There's a shock. I thought you and your dad knew everything."

"What happened to him?" she asked. "Did you-

"No." He cut in sharply. Angered by the fact that he was once again accused of a crime merely because of his past. "It was the Joker."

"Oh Dear God." She paled visibly and put a hand in front of her mouth. "Is he alright?"

"What do you think!" Jason snarled. "Of course he's not alright! That kid's been stuck with that psycho being tortured endlessly for six weeks. Why the hell would you think he was OK!"

Before their argument could escalate, one of the doctors had finally come out of the medical ward and walked towards Jason and Talia. He had a grim look on his face.

"What's wrong? Is he ok?" Jason asked as he walked towards them.

"Are you his family?" he asked. More out of curiousity than professionalism.

Jason hesitated for the briefest of seconds berfore answering.

"He's my little brother. Now tell me what's wrong with him!" he growled.

"I can honestly tell you that I've never seen such strength in one person." he said, "This has to be one of the worst cases I've ever seen. Infected wounds, six broken ribs, a collapsed lung, he's still got traces of heroin, meth, and cocaine in his system so he's suffering severly from withdrawl symptoms. He also appears to have a weakened immune system, so along with his other wounds, he is also very sick."

"How sick?" Jason pressed.

"We've already administered some antibiotics in his system, we've treated his other injuries as best as we can, the best we can do now is wait a twenty-four hour period and see how it plays out."

"That's it?" Jason asked increduloulsy. "That's all you're gonna do?"

"That's all we can do." the doctor replied, "If this boy has survived for this long, then in my personal opinion he will survive this ordeal as well."

"He better." Jason growled, "Because if he doesn't survive he won't be dying alone."

The doctor made the wise choice of leaving the room, allowing Talia nd Jason to be alone.

"Six weeks with the Joker." Talia mused, "Bruce must have trained him well."

"I doubt it." Jason spat, "It takes a lot more than just training to endure that."

"He seems to be a very special child." She said, her interest spiking higher every minute. "Especially if he has gained your attention."

Jason knew where this was leading. "Whatever the hell you're planning, you leave that kid out of it. He's off-limits, and no one but me is supposed to go into that room, is that understood."

"Really Jason you'd think that you would be at least a little grateful." Talia said, "After all I'm risking a great deal by bringing you and the boy here. Can you imagine the consequences my father would have me suffer if he discovered you were here?"

"You didn't seem to care about the consequences the last time we were together." Jason said, "Imagine what your dad would've done if he found out that we were screwing with each other."

Jason expected the slap to come so it didn't faze him when she did. He looked back and he could see anger in her eyes, anger at the fact that he actually had the balls to bring it up.

"How dare you!" she snarled.

"Don't even try putting up a victim front with me, or how grateful I should be to you and your dad." he snarled in the same tone. "You and I both know that you only trained me so you could test my limits against Bruce."

She started to protest but Jason wouldn't let her finish.

"And you and I both know that you only slept with me to punish Bruce, but you chickened out and begged me not to tell." Jason continued. "So the way I see it, I hold all the cards. I can just as easily tell your dad or Bruce exactly what you had done with me but I won't so long as you follow this rule."

He stared straight into her eyes as he said his next words. "You leave that kid alone if you know what's good for you. I'm serious Talia, if you or Ra's or any one of your goons comes within fifty feet of that kid, then I will spill everything. And Bruce and Ra's aren't nearly as forgiving as I am, are they?"

Talia said nothing. She knew Jason was right. If Bruce or her father ever discovered what she had done with Jason, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Glad we came to an understanding." Jason said.

He walked away without another word and entered the medical ward.

* * *

(Happy Harbor)

Aqualad and the others were flying over the city in the Bio-ship. Not a lot was being said, because quite frankly they didn't know what to say. They had been apart for almost two months, and a line seemed to be crossed when Robin disappeared.

Aqualad sighed. No matter how tense things were he still had to keep the mission going.

"M'gann. Did you get a reading from the Data chip?" he asked turning his head slightly to face the pilot's seat.

"Nothing." she said focusing on the datachip levitating in her hand, "I'm concentrating as hard as I can, but I can't sense Ivo anywhere."

"A fat lot of good that does us." Roy muttered.

"Hey lay off her alright." KF said, "She's doing the best she can."

"She should've done the best she could six weeks ago when we needed it!" Roy snapped. "Maybe then we would've found Robin!"

"Hey don't you dare blame this on her!" Kid Flash said jumping from his seat. "It's not her fault that Robin disappeared!"

"I wouldn't act so high and mighty _Bart_." Roy snapped leaving his seat as well. "I didn't see you do anything about it either!"

"There was nothing that could've been done and you know it!" Kid Flash said, swiping his arm to one side. "The League told us to stay away! What were we supposed to do!"

"Stand up to them for once in your life!" Conner cried out joining in. "You know Robin would've done it for you! But instead of acting like the teammate you should've been you stayed behind like a sad dog waiting to be ordered what to do instead of taking action for yourself!"

"Guys please!" Megan said.

"Don't you dare lecture me on what I should've done!" Bart snarled, "And don't act like I didn't care about Robin! I've known him longer than any one of you so you can't imagine how I feel!"

"Obviously nothing since that's exactly what you did!" Roy shouted.

**_"ENOUGH!"_**

The loud voice echoed throughout the ship. They all looked to the center front of the ship and there stood Kaldur, breathing heavily and looking angrier than they had seen him.

"I cannot believe you! Any of you!" he shouted, "I've had enough of this! Standing around and mindlessly blaming each other is not helping Robin! It doesn't matter who is right and wrong in this situation! The only thing that matters is Robin! We can't focus on what might've been or who is to blame! We need to focus every thought and action to this mission and if you can't do that then leave!"

His outburst and rant shocked everyone into silence. When Roy looked as though he was about to say something Conner put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

"He's right." Conner said, "Our entire focus has to be on this mission. We have to focus on finding Robin."

Grudgingly Roy nodded his head and the rest of the team slowly agreed and went back to their seats.

Roy's seat was next to Aqualad and he spared a glance at him and smirked.

"What?" Aqualad asked.

"Now I see why Robin chose you." Roy said. "As much as I hate to admit it right now, he was right. You're the right person to lead this team."

"For the time being." Aqualad said, "I still believe that Robin is the true leader of this team. I can only hope...that I am still here to be under his leadership."

Roy knew what he really meant.

_I hope Robin is still alive to take over as leader like he was meant to._

"Yeah, me too." Roy said.

"Guys! I've sensed something!" Megan's voice interrupted them. "I can sense Ivo! He's close by!"

"Don't lose him!" Aqualad said. "Go ahead of us and follow his trail. We'll follow your coordinates."

"I'm on it!" Megan said. She opened a hole in the floor of the ship and jumped through. Flying in the air following her trail of Ivo.

The team could only hope that they were one step closer to finding Robin.

* * *

(Gotham City)

Batman and Nightwing were driving through the slums of Gotham. While the Justice League searched through their sources across the country, Batman and Nightwing continued to search in their own backyard.

"We've already interrogated every middle-timer and half of the Eight drug lords." Dick said, "They all say the same thing."

"That only leaves the other half and the Big Nine." Batman replied.

"Black Mask is denying any kind of contact with the Joker." Dick pointed out. "Kon, Roy and I already checked."

"Time to see if his story has changed." Batman answered back driving faster.

They spotted a crowd of police cars, ambulances and fire trucks. They immediately screeched to a halt and jumped out of the car, rushing to the scene.

Among the crowd of cops, Bruce could see Comissionner Gordon.

"What happened Comissionner?" Bruce asked.

"It's an ugly sight Batman." Gordon answered to Batman, "It's a bloodbath in there. I haven't seen anything this bad since the war. Black Mask was the only survivor and he's not looking so good."

Batman and Nighwing looked to the right and saw Black Mask was on a gurney being pushed into the back of an ambulence.

"Any fingerprints? DNA? Fabrics?" Batman asked.

"All we've got is a few bootprints. Whoever executed this was good. Real Good." Gordon stated.

Batman could only nod, then gestured for Nightwing to follow him back into the Batmobile.

Once they were in the car, Nightwing finally asked the question he was dying to ask.

"Do you think it was him?"

Batman's fists tighted around the steering wheel.

"I don't know." he answered back, "It could've easily been him or the Joker, but we at least have a new lead."

He drove away leaving the conversation where it was.

(Back at Happy Harbor)

"Where is he!" Superboy snarled as he threw Ivo agaisnt the wall.

Ivo looked at Superboy in terror. He wasn't the least bit surprised or unprepared when the Young Justice entered his cave. He already had an Amazo and a small squadron of M.O.N.K.I'S ready for them. But surprisingly, they had all been brought down within a minute. Miss Martian had exploded all of them with her telekinetic abilites and once they were done, Superboy immediately went after Ivo.

As he looked at the rest of the team he was surprised to find cold, uncaring expressions on all of them. He realized that they were going to allow Superboy to get the information by any means necessary.

He squealed as Superboy grabbed his shirt collar and lifted him into the air.

"I'm not asking again." Superboy growled. "Where is he?"

"I don't know!" Ivo finally squeaked kicking his legs in the air, "All he told me was to build him the android. That's all I swear. He never told me what he was planning or who he was after. I just built him the android I swear!"

"Is there anything else that you did for him?" Kaldur persisted. "Anything at all?"

"My equipment!" he suddenly said. "He stole some of my equipment from my personal labs. A few beakers and test tubes, some shock cables and a metal table."

"Did you manufacture them yourself?" Megan suddenly asked.

"Yes. Why?" Ivo asked bewildered.

She did her trademark face-palm. "Hello Megan! Superboy, put him down, we've got a new lead!"

Superboy threw Ivo across the room with more force than necessary and followed Megan and the others out.

"What's going on?" Roy asked as he strapped himself in, "and why are we leaving Ivo behind?"

"We don't need him anymore," Megan answered, "Besides I've already contacted the police. They should be there shortly."

"You still haven't told us what our new lead is." Superboy pointed out.

"GPS" Megan said, "The beakers and test tubes can't give them off, but if Ivo manufactured the table and shock cables they should still have the same GPS as the Amazo and MONQI androids do."

"She's right." KF said, "They should have the same manufacturing signal."

"How did you know?" Conner asked.

Megan deflated a little. "Robin. The first time we ran into Ivo, he used the GPS to find Ivo, so I thought that it might work this time."

"Don't be discouraged M'gann." Kaldur said, "Because of you, we're now one step closer to finding Robin."

Megan visibly brightened when he said that.

"You're right. We've got something." Megan said glowing with happiness. "We've finally got something."

* * *

(Bosnia)

Jason was sitting in a chair next to Robin's bed watching his heart monitor.

Tim was completly still. His arms were rested above his stomach and his eyes were closed. Even though he looked peaceful Jason knew otherwise. The doctors had told him that they had to heavily sedate Tim. He was in a state of hysterics that they couldn't control. They had told Jason that Tim wasn't expected to wake up for another twenty-four hours. So he figured now was as good a time as any.

"Hey kid." Jason said. "The doc said that you probably won't even hear me talking to you, but there's some stuff that I gotta say."

"It's weird you know." he continued, "When I first found out that Bruce had a new Robin I was crushed. I thought he had replaced me, and for a moment I thought 'This is probably what Grayson felt.' Trust me that's a scary thought. Anyways I check you out and it turned out to be worse than I thought. You were better than me. You were better than Dick. You're probably the most perfect Robin out of all of us, and that really pissed me off."

He paused taking a long look at Tim. He was still resting, not showing any signs that he could hear him.

"Then you threw me in for a loop." Jason said, "You came to my gravesite and started talking to me. Well technically it was my grave, but you still talked to me. Like a person, like an equal. Something that hadn't happened to me for awhile. You know being Robin wasn't always the greatest thing for me. For one thing people kept comparing me to Dick. It was always, _always _Dick. Whether I wasn't as smart as him, or not as athletic, or I didn't have the leadership skills that he did. It hurt. More than you can imagine. I actually had a little mini-team of my own and you know what they did? They made me leader. God I hated that. I never wanted to be the leader, I just wanted to help people. But it was the same thing."

Their words echoed in his head.

Behind his back they said...

_He's nothing like Dick._

_What was Batman thinking?_

_Should he really be on this team?_

Not just his Young Justice team. But the Justice League as well.

_He's too rough. _

_He carries too much anger._

_He's unstably impulsive_

_He's not trained well enough_

_He's sloppy. He lack's Dick's finesse and discipline_

_He's no Dick._

_Does he belong here?_

With every word they said, Jason's felt smaller and smaller. The final nail on the coffin was Dick's words.

_(Flashback)_

_"Dick would you just come down and talk to him." Bruce said. His tone was on the borderline of begging. "You're the only person who can possibly relate to him right now."_

_"Why should I?" Dick's voice said through the phone. "It's not like you needed me to begin with. Besides you're the one who took him in, he's your problem not mine."_

_"Dammit Dick." Bruce growled clenching the phone in his fist. "He's practically your brother for God's sake."_

_"That kid is a lot of things." Dick said, "But he is not my brother."_

_He hung up on Bruce, who hung his head in defeat._

_Jason slipped out unnoticed the force of Dick's words echoing in his head._

_Not my brother._

_(End Flashback)_

Jason scoffed.

"It was never enough." he said bowing his head, "Nothing I ever did for them was enough. I could never live up to Dick and that killed me. God, even the Joker, on the very night he killed me, criticized me for not being like Dick. Do you have any idea what that did to me."

He raised his head to look back at Dick.

"Then you came along." he said, "You came to my grave and just talked. You talked to me, about me, asked me for advice. Not once...not once did you ever mention Dick. You never compared me to him. You always found something about me to praise. You didn't see me as Dick's replacement. You just saw me. For once in my entire life, somebody finally saw me."

He started to smooth back Tim's hair.

"You gotta stay strong kid." Jason said, "You can beat this, I know you can."

To his surprise Tim's eyes started to open. It took him a few tries but he finally opened his eyes.

Jason tensed, he didn't know how Tim was going to react to his appearance.

"Jason?" Tim asked, his voice raspy.

"Hey kid." Jason said. "How do you feel?"

Tim closed his eyes in concentration then looked back towards Jason.

"Where?"

"Somewhere safe." Jason assured him. "You're safe now ok."

Tim put a hand to his head. "How?"

Tim's eyes suddenly widened and he jolted to a sitting position looking around frantically.

"Where?" he asked hystercally looking around. "Where-he?"

"The Joker?" Jason asked, realizing immediately what he was trying to say. "He's gone."

But Tim didn't hear, he grabbed his head and started to scream and shake his head violently.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Jason said trying to grab Tim's arms. "Kid calm down he's gone! The Joker's never coming back!"

"No!" Tim struggled to get out of Jason's grip. "No! Stay Away! Make him go away!"

Jason, on pure instinct, pulled Tim to his chest and wrapped his arms around him.

"Tim listen to me." Jason said, using Tim's real name for the first time. "You don't have to worry about the Joker again I promise you. He's gone. He can't hurt you anymore, I promise. He's never coming back."

"Make him go away." Tim whispered trying to push himself closer to Jason. "Make him go away please. Make him go away."

Jason couldn't do anything else, but hold Tim and rock him back and forth.

_'There's one more favor I need to ask.'_ he thought.

* * *

Okay what did you think?

Be honest. Again I'm really sorry about the shortness. Hopefully my next chapters will be longer.

A quick note. In my story, the episode 'Schooled' Artemis never showed up to save them. So Artemis doesn't exist in this story. I apologize to all artemis fans. Sorry!

Again Thank you Shingami. It was your information that helped me write out Jason's flashbacks and confessions with Tim.

Let me know what you guys would like to see next!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or it's characters.

Thanks so much for all of the reviews people!

I hope you like this next chapter!

* * *

Talia walked into the room half an hour later. "I've done as you asked, he should be here by morning. But I don't know why you would want to bring _him_ of all people here."

"That's none of your business." Jason said putting his helmet back on. "Just make sure he's here by morning."

He was about to say more but he got distracted by a whimper from Tim. He looked back to Talia, where she could see a hint of desperation in his eyes

"Isn't there anything you can do about him?" he demanded. "It's obvious your anenthesia isn't working."

"We could always take him to the Pits." Talia said half-jokingly. She immediately sobered up when she saw the look in Jason's eyes.

"Try it, and I'll show you and Ra's the true meaning of hell." he said in a calm deadly tone.

"Well, I suppose we could induce him in a medical coma." Talia observed.

"What's that?" Jason asked suspiciously.

"It's when the doctors purposely bring him in a coma in order for his physical injuries to heal." Talia explained.

"For how long?"

"About a week." Talia said, "That's the longest we can keep him without risking his health."

"Do it." Jason says, "He better off being unconcious during tomorrow anyway."

"Tell me Jason, because I'm rather curious," Talia began. "Why are you going to such lengths for this child?"

"None of your damn business!" Jason snapped turning his attention back to the bed.

"Listen Jason, you're not the easiest person to get along with," Talia said, "You've never trusted yourself to anybody, even Bruce. But with this child, you show a side of yourself I've never seen before? So what is it about this child that is so special to you?"

For awhile, Jason didn't speak, he kept his eyes on Tim and his fists started clenching the sheets. Talia just stood there with her arms folded, determined to get an answer out of him.

"My entire life I was judged." Jason began, "From the day I was born to the day I died everyone was judging me. My old man left me when I was four and all my mom ever cared about was getting her next fix. I didn't matter to them, it was like I didn't exist. By the time I was twelve my mom died from her drug addiction and I was left on my own, I'd steal what I needed and stayed in the old apartment hoping to God that my old man would come back for me, or anyone for that matter. All I ever wanted was for someone to care about me, and I thought I found that in Bruce. But even then things didn't change, during all the time we spent training together it was 'Dick this' and 'Dick that', he had Dick on a pedastal so high that I could never reach. It was the same with the Justice League and the Titans, I was _always_ compared to Dick."

Jason released a bitter laugh as he continued, "Hell even my death I couldn't get away from it, the Joker actually told me that I needed to learn from Dick about manners."

He raised his head to look at Tim.

"But then this kid...when he looked at me, he didn't see another Robin or Dick's replacement. He saw me." Jason said, "For once, someone looked beyond the mask and could see who I was outside of it."

Talia regarded Tim thoughtfully. To be honest, Talia's reaction to Jason was just as he described, seeing only the suit and whether or not he could do Dick justice.

"He seems to be an exceptional child." She said.

"Yeah he is." Jason said in an uncharacteristically soft voice. "Now get out. He needs to sleep."

Rather than argue with his rude abruptness, she left the room, making sure to contact the doctors and order them to induce the coma. Along with the anethesia she made sure that they would include cortisone in his IV drip. This particular cortisone that her father had developed was experimental and it was known to heal the swellings and fractures of human bones at a more rapid pace than the pharmacudical brand cortisone. So with the cortisone and induced coma, Tim should be physically healed within the week.

His mental stage however was something else. If this child was really tortured by the Joker for the last six weeks then she wasn't sure how he could ever recover from it. He was going to be scarred for life.

She spared the door to Tim's room one last glace before walking down the hallway.

* * *

"This is most excellent news M'gann" J'onn said as he held up the chip. He walked over to the Supercomputer control panel and inserted the chip. The holographic screen appeared. A radar had formed and the hand was circling within the sphere, no apparent markers were shown on the globe.

"As of right now the GPS is trying to find it's signal." J'onn explained, "But we can't control how long it will take to find him."

Roy clenched his fists, "You mean we have to keep waiting!"

J'onn tried to calm down the angered red-head. "This is most effiecient search engine in the world, I assure you we are using the quickest method in locating Robin."

"In all honesty it's Ivo's table we're looking for." Black Canary said walking into the room. "We can't know for sure if it will lead us to Robin."

"It has to!" Conner blurted out. "It's all we've got to go on!"

"Everyone calm down please." J'onn said. "Arguing amongst ourselves will not rectify the situation."

"J'onn is right." Canary said. "Why don't you kids head out to the kitchen and eat something. The league ordered some pizzas for you."

The teen heroes were too weary to argue so they did as they were told, but not even pizza could lift their spirits.

None of them hardly ate a bite, they merely picked at their food and stared at their plates.

Conner was sitting by himself in the corner of the room, Roy walked over to join him.

"How are you holding up?" Roy asked.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take." Conner said. "I can't stand it. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't function right without knowing he's okay."

Roy sighed and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know, and as much as I hate to admit it, you and I are not the only people who feel that way. Robin's disappearance took a toll on all of us.

"How can we do this?" Conner said gripping his plate so tight it cracked. "How can we just sit around waiting?"

"Because it's the best way to help Robin." Megan said. Both boys looked at her.

"I know it's hard for you guys and you feel like all we're doing is wasting time, but if we continue searching without any leads, blindly searching the cities then we will waste our own energy and fail Robin."

Everyone in the room listened as she spoke and knew that she was right.

"Have faith in Robin." She said. "He's the strongest person on this team, there' nothing he can't handle. We'll find him."

"You're right." Conner said standing up. "We will find him."

He threw the cracked-beyond-repair plate inside the garbage can.

"No matter what it takes."

* * *

"I must say I was surprised to get your call." Grodd said, walking into the room. Jason was leaning against the wall next to Tim's bedside. He had is arms crossed and one leg was propped against the wall.

"About time you showed up." Jason snarled, standing up.

"Be glad I came right away," Grodd said, "Not to mention your very attractive friend was gracious enough to allow me the use of her private jet. I'm surprised she was able to get me here in such a short time."

"Just get on with it." Jason said. "I didn't bring you here to sing praises for Talia."

"My aren't we impatient," Grodd said, he finally noticed Tim and looked at him in curiousity. "Who's this?"

"None of your business." Jason snapped. "I need you to wipe his memory from the last six weeks."

Grodd raised his eyebrow. "Any particular reason why?"

"Whatever reason I have is mine to deal with." Jason said dangerously. "The only reason I called you here is because you owe me a favor from last year."

"Yes, yes." Grodd said impatiently. "You helped me escape the Justice League, and for that reason I will do this for you."

"Good," Jason said curtly. He looked back at Tim and his gaze softened slightly. He hoped this would work, he looked back towards Grodd with ferocity in his eyes.

"You better not screw with his head!" Jason growled. "This kid's been through hell and back, and don't even think about invading his memories. All you have to do is make sure he remembers nothing from these last six weeks, including last night. You so much as peek in any of his memories I'll skin you alive and use your hide for a coat. Is that understood?"

"I'm not some mindless, banana-eating drone!" Grodd snapped. He turned his attention back to Tim and reached his hand towards him and placed his hands on either side of Tim's head. He closed his eyes in concentration, and he almost pulled back from the sheer emotion he felt from Tim. He could sense Jason tensing and he did his best to remain calm. He knew that if he gave the slightest indication of trouble Jason would kill him on the spot and he knew he would be powerless to stop him.

He focused once again, pushing through Tim's emotions and focusing on the timeslot for the memories he was searching for, he made sure to block the memories from his vision so he wouldn't be able to view them. He wasn't sure how, but he knew that Jason could tell whether or not he was lying so he made the wise choice of actually following Jason's commands word for word.

The process didn't take long, but he knew that he couldn't actually erase the memories, but he could lock them away so far down, that not even the Martian Manhunter could find them. He put mental blocks around the memories then made absolute gurantee's that they couldn't be entered. Once he was satisfied he pulled out.

The overall process had only taken ten minutes, but to Jason it felt like hours. He was surprised by the amount of emotions he felt for Tim, he had never cared so much about one person. Not even Bruce.

When Grodd finally opened his eyes, Jason didn't miss a beat. "Well, is it done?"

Grodd regarded him with cool eyes. "Relax. I've done what you asked. He won't remember a thing."

"You're absolutely positive?" Jason pressed.

"Yes! Yes! I'm positive!" Grodd snapped impatiently. "Shall we wake him up to confirm it!"

The last comment was completely rhetorical, but Jason took it seriously enough to him pin him against the wall with his trusty knife pressed dangerously close against his throat.

"If he so much as stirs from his sleep, you're dead." He snarled in a dangerously low voice.

He shoved Grodd towards the door. "You're done here. Leave."

Grodd didn't appreciate being manhandled and looked like he was going to protest but thought better of it. He knew what Jason was capable of, and he wasn't sure that his powers could prevent Jason from harming him. He gave a growl and walked out of the door.

Jason didn't take his eyes off Grodd until he saw him leave through the door.

Once he was sure Grodd was gone, he turned his attention back to Tim. Looking down at him, he didn't look any different from any other thirteen-year old kid. He just appeared to be sleeping peacefully, the blankets covering the most gruesome evidence of his torture.

Out of instinct he reached out and ran his fingers gently through Tim's hair. Talia and her men had induced the coma early that morning and when he saw a needle in the doctors hand he nearly broke his arm. Talia had explained about the cortisone drug that was supposed to speed his healing process, she guaranteed that Tim would be physically healed within the weak if they injected the cortisone in him, after she explained he reluctantly agreed.

Now the only thing he could do was wait and hope for the best.

* * *

Another chappie done. Sorry I took so long! Hopefully my next update will be faster.

review please!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or it's characters.

Thanks so much for all of the reviews people!

I hope you like this next chapter!

* * *

White.

That was the first thing he could see when he woke up. He had to blink a few times to clear his vision. Once he got his sight back he tried to sit up, but it was hard for him to move. He looked at the wires attached to his arm in bewilderment, then he surmised he was in a hospital, or at least a hospital setting. He was feeling many sensations, he was tired, groggy, and his mouth was a little dry, but the one emotion that stood out above the rest was his confusion. When he turned his head to the left, that confusion increased ten-fold.

The Red Hood aka Jason Todd was sleeping in a chair next to him (minus the red helmet).

He frowned and he grew more alert, he immediately sat up, only to find himself winded. His movement also caused Jason to jerk and jolt awake. For the briefest of seconds Jason was confused, then he saw Tim awake and was immediately on alert.

"You're awake!" Jason said, jumping to his feet and looking Tim over, "Jesus kid, you really know how to keep someone on their toes, it's only been four days, you shouldn't be awake right now. How are you feeling? Did you need anything?"

Jason was speaking at a desperate pace and Tim had just woken up, so it was very hard for him to follow. So he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"What- how?" he was speaking in incomplete sentences.

Jason helped him into a sitting position and rested his back against the pillows. "Go easy on yourself kid, you've been through a lot."

"What happened to me?" Tim asked in a clearer voice. "What are you doing here?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Jason asked, instead of answering his question. He wanted to make sure that Grodd's process worked.

Tim's brow burrowed in confusion. Now that he thought about it, his memories were pretty jumbled.

"I remember...Bruce and Dick, we had a fight. Then I remember meeting my friends at the Gotham Plaza." Tim said, "I remember I was going to tell them about you, then some weird explosion happened then..."

He trailed off putting a hand to his head, shutting his eyes in concentration. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't remember anything beyond that.

"I can't remember anything after that." He said looking into Jason's eyes through the mask.

Jason released an internal sigh of relief. He put a hand on Tim's shoulder and was glad that Tim didn't flinch.

"Look, there's no easy way to say this, but I wasn't kidding when I said you went through a lot." Jason said

"What do you mean?" Tim asked.

"All those memories you have happened over six weeks ago." Jason explained**. **

Tim's eyes widened incredulously. "Six weeks? Are you kidding me?"

"Afraid not kid." Jason said, using his real name to show he was serious. "Six weeks ago, that day you went to the plaza with your friends, a raid went down. It was pretty huge, and you got separated from everybody else."

"How did I get separated from them?" Tim asked dubiously, the back of his mind vaguely wondering where his friends were.

"I don't know, I wasn't there." Jason explained. "According to them you ran to an alley by yourself to help stragglers and some clowns grabbed you."

"Clowns?" Tim raised an eyebrow. Then his eyes widened in horrified realization. "So was it-

"Yeah." Jason answered without letting him finish. He didn't need to, he knew exactly who he meant. "It was him."

Tim shut his eyes. Throughout his three years as Robin, his brushes with the Joker were far and in between and even then he was always with Batman or Nightwing. The Joker was the only villian that they would never let him face alone, and Tim wasn't keen to. He had see what types of horrors the Joker was capable of.

His eyes snapped open when the magnitude of Jason's words hit him. "You're telling me that I've been the Joker's prisoner for six weeks!"

Jason nodded gravely.

"How is that possible?" Tim asked no one in particular, "I don't even remember seeing the Joker, let alone getting taken by him. The last thing I remember was hanging out with my friends. We were laughing and talking."

Tim was starting to babble incessantly, trying to make sense of his situation and process it, but his body was starting to hyperentilate, once Jason realized what was going on he wrapped his arms around Tim yet again, hoping to calm him down. He pressed the small boy into his chest and held him so tightly that he had no choice but to stop trembling.

"It's ok." He said in a calm manner. "You're ok, just listen to my heartbeat and breathe with me."

Tim did as he was told and in a few minutes he was starting to calm down.

"Sorry about that." he said in a slightly shaky voice.

"Don't worry about it." Jason said dismissively, "It's natural to feel overwhelmed."

Tim barked a dry, humorless laugh, "What I'd give to feel whelmed again."

Jason raised an eyebrow, but decided not to comment on Tim's vernacular.

Tim made no motion to move, in all honesty it felt nice to be held by Jason, it made him feel safe.

"How long have I been gone?" Tim asked.

"Including the time it took you to recover, almost seven weeks." Jason answered.

Tim's body shuddered involuntarily again, the thought of being with that psychotic monster for one day terrified him let alone _six weeks_. He was surprised he had survived.

Jason tightened grip on Tim's shoulders.

"Hey, you're ok." he said softly, rubbing the back of Tim's head. "You're here now, he can't hurt you anymore."

"What do you mean?" Tim asked finally breaking out of the hug. "What happened to him?"

Jason had contemplated this earlier, but he just couldn't tell Tim the truth of what had really happened to the Joker. The kid was just too innocent, and he had been through more than enough, he didn't need the death of that garbage on his concience. He knew that Tim wouldn't be able to handle the fact that he had taken another life, no matter how evil or worthless that life was.

He gave Tim's shoulders a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry about it. He's been taken care of."

Tim's eyes widened at the implication, "You mean you...you...

He couldn't even finish the sentence, he didn't doubt that Jason would kill the Joker, he just didn't think it was possible.

"Like I said, he's taken care of." Jason said with a note of finality. "I'm going to call the docs, they should probably check up on you."

"Where am I anyway?" Tim asked looking around.

"Ra's Al Ghul's palace."

_**"I'M WHERE!"**_

* * *

Four days had passed since the discovery of the chip, and there was still no results on Robin's whereabouts. The team was getting disheartened, despite all of the League's attempts to encourage them.

"How long is this supposed to take!" Conner snarled, "We should've found him by now!"

"It has been a long time." J'onn conceded. "The only explanation could be that Robin is nowhere in this country to be found."

"You're telling us he was taken out of the country?" Roy asked in disbelief.

"It's the only explanation we have that Robin hasn't been found." Canary said walking in the room. "I just got back from my contacts, if Robin was still in the country they would've known something."

"So what happens now?" Bart asked.

"We broaden the search." J'onn pressed a few keys on the console, there was a much larger scale on screen now. "The radar is now broadcasting worldwide."

"I still can't believe this is happening." M'gann said hugging herself. "I mean why Robin? Out of all of us, why did the Joker have to take him?"

"Because he knows what Robin means to Batman...what he means to us." Kaldur said clenching his fists. "Robin is the heart of our team. We fell apart without him, and the League has taken a blow as well. He knows that by harming him he harms us in the worst way possible."

Conner clenched his fists even tighter at the thought of Robin being hurt.

"If he's done anything to hurt him..." Conner trailed off, but it didn't take a genius to figure out what he would do. Especially with all of that hate and malice in his tone.

"Don't you think he should've contacted us?" Bart said. "I mean, this is the Joker. I thought he lived to torment stuff and all that."

"Batman's been facing this psycho longer than any of us," Canary explained. "And not even he can figure out what that monster is thinking."

"Uncle J'onn isn't there anything else we can do?" M'gann asked. "Can't we make the radar work faster?"

"I'm sorry M'gann." J'onn said sadly, "The radar is already working at it's maximum, if we push it any harder it will overload and shut down, and the repairs we would have to make towards it would take weeks."

"Let's just hope Batman and Nightwing have better luck with their search." Canary said.

* * *

_(Gotham Mercy Hospital 7:00 pm)_

It was a dark stormy day in Gotham, the weather seemed to reflect the moods of two certain vigilantes. The rain pelted like hard bullets and every other minute thunder and lightning would light up the sky.

Batman and Nightwing had waited long enough. Gordon had called to inform them that Black Mask had finally woken up.

"Try to stay calm." Batman told Nightwing. "We need him coherent."

"I'm not holding you back." Nightwing said.

Batman turned to him in confusion.

"I mean it Bruce." Nightwing says, "Do whatever it takes to get the information out of him. **_Whatever it takes_**."

With that Nightwing stormed out of the car, with Bruce not too far behind.

While Bruce held a facade of emotionless indifference, he was shaken by Nightwing's words. The part that scared him even more was the fact that he agreed with Nightwing. There was a good chance he would lose control that night. Consequences be damned.

_(Room 104)_

The Black Mask was disgusted with himself. He was completely helpless and at the mercy of other people. While he put a tough front, he would always look over his shoulder at the window. He couldn't get the Red Hood out of his head. No one had ever had the guts to stand up to him, let alone what the Hood had done to him. He would always tremble in fear at the mention of his name, or the mere thought of him.

The Red Hood had irreprably damaged him both physically and psychologicaly. Not to mention economically. His life could not possibly get any worse.

He was so caught up in his self-pity he failed to notice the two figures creeping in his room. It was only until a black bat-shaped silouhette was in front of his eyes.

"Hello Roman," Batman said in his most threatening voice. "We need to talk."

The Black Mask was proven wrong.

* * *

The doctors had spent a good hour looking Tim over. They did all sorts of tests, until finally Jason had had enough and threw them out.

"How did I even get here?" Tim asked once they were gone. "Where are my friends?"

"I don't know where your friends are, and as for you getting here," Jason said, "That was me."

Tim's eyes widened slightly. "You? You brought me here?"

"Sure did."

Tim regarded Jason in a surprised manner. "You saved me from him didn't you?"

"Do you see anyone else around here?" Jason asked sarcastically. He immediately reprimanded himself for that. "Sorry about that kid, but yeah I got you out of there."

"Why?" Tim blurted out. "Why save me? I thought you hated me."

"Believe me so did I." Jason joked, but he sobered up immediately. "Look kid, I don't hate you and even if I did, not even I would leave a kid in the hands of that psychotic monster. Besides, it wasn't your fault that the old man wanted to replace me."

"That wasn't it." Tim insisted. "He never wanted to replace you, he just-

Jason raised his hand to stop Tim from ranting. "Calm down, things were getting testy between us anyways. Don't blame yourself for our falling out. It wasn't your fault."

Tim looked down at his hands. "I asked about you all the time. I wanted to know more about you."

Jason let out a dry laugh. "You would be the first person to want to know me."

"That's not true." Tim said.

Jason didn't have the heart to discourage him. The kid was too nice for his own good.

"Whatever you say kid." he said, "Come on, if you want to know so much about me, well we can start now.

* * *

This is more of a filler chapter. Sorry guys!

I'm not sure where this is heading, but fear not! I will not discontinue!

There's a good chance that the others will find Tim in the next chapter! But no promises! Also...Ra's will make an appearance.

What would you guys like to see in the next chapter?


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or it's characters.

Thanks so much for all of the reviews people!

I hope you like this next chapter!

* * *

"Tim be careful!" Jason admonished as he saw Tim spin on the still rings. Tim didn't seem to hear him, as he cackled his trademark laugh.

"Relax Jay!" Tim chuckled, "I feel great!"

It was true. Another week had gone by and Tim's progress was surprisingly well. The enhanced cortisone drug had healed all of his broken limbs and by the third day, it was as though he was never hurt. Jason had finally relented in Tim's request to train, but he was watching him like a hawk.

True to his word, Jason never let Tim out of his sight. He was with him wherever he went, he never left him alone, and Jason always kept an eye out for Talia or Ra's.

Jason blew out a breath of frustration and ran his hand down his face (sans red helmet.). But he couldn't bring himself to get angry at Tim, the kid was just a ball of positive energy and it was contagious. He allowed himself a small smile.

"With a sidekick like you it's no wonder the old man is getting...well older."

"Yeah try telling him that to his face." Tim said spinning on the rings, "I swear he's more sensitive than a middle aged woman on menopause."

Jason couldn't contain his laughter with that analogy, his laugh was deep and echoed off the walls. After a couple of minutes, he was leaning against the wall and holding his stomach.

"Okay stop kid," Jason laughed, "Otherwise I'll die from suffocation."

"I seriously doubt you would allow yourself to die that way." A feminined voice broke in.

Jason turned and found Talia leaning against the doorway.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jason snarled.

"I just wanted to see how our young patient was doing." Talia said turning her eyes to Tim, who jogged next to Jason's side when he heard Talia's voice.

Jason instinctively pulled Tim closer to his side. "He's fine, now get out."

"There's no need for such hostility Jason."

Jason's blood ran cold when he heard that voice. He turned to find the imposing figure of Ra's Al Ghul standing in the doorway.

"Ra's." Jason spat.

"It's good to see you too." Ra's said, then turned his eyes to Tim. "and a pleasure it is to finally meet you, young man. Talia tells me you've baffled the doctors with your speedy recovery."

Jason's grip on Tim tightened even more, "Unless you've got a point to this visit, then I suggest you leave."

"If I remember correctly, this is my home, so I may come and go wherever I please." Ra's said.

"Then we'll leave." Jason growled. "Let's go kid."

He pulled Tim by the arm and rushed out of the room with Talia and Ra's staring after them.

"What are you thinking Father?" Talia asked as soon as she saw the look on her father's face.

"All these years I've wanted to pass my legacy onto Bruce." Ra's said, "And yet he remains uncooperative, but I cannot blame him. By the time I tried to appeal to him he was already set in his 'holier than thou' ways. Perhaps I should reconsider my choice of heir, someone at a much more...impressionable age."

"By someone I assume you are referring to his young protoge." Talia stated.

"You've seen his potential Talia." Ra's said, "Not to mention his mortality, I've never seen anyone recover from wounds so drastic at such a rapid pace. Not even the Detective could recover so fast. Not to mention the fact that he's excelled far higher than his predecessors, he has the potential to be even greater that Bruce Wayne. I believe he would make an excellent heir."

"If he's anything like Bruce he won't come quietly." Talia replied, "Not to mention his bodyguard will be a problem. Jason is surprisingly protective of him."

"That can be easily corrected Talia." Ra's said, "Inform the men to take action tonight, we've wasted enough time as is. By this time tomorrow, I will have a new successor."

"As you wish Father." Talia bowed her head.

Ra's moved to gaze out the window at the snow-covered mountains.

_'Soon.'_ he thought. _'Very soon.'_

* * *

_Gotham Memorial Hospital_

_"Listen carefully Roman." Batman said in a deadly voice, "I'm not in the mood for games. I know that you had something to do with the Riot, and your going to tell me what it is now._

_Black Mask stared stoically ahead. The tube in his mouth prevented him from speaking and even if he could he didn't plan on saying anything. He was much more terrified of the Red Hood than he ever was of Batman_

_"Do whatever you want." Black Mask rasped, "There's nothing you can say or do that'll make me talk."_

_Suddenly he was short of breath, he turned his eyes to see Nightwing's hand on the wire that connected to his oxygen tank._

_"Start talking." Nightwing growled._

_Black Mask gave a dark chuckle, "Please. Neither one of you ever had the balls to kill. What makes you think I'm gonna believe you'll do it now."_

_Before either one of them could speak, Black Mask suddenly gasped and went rigid. The monitors began to beep irregularly and his eyes were rollling in the back of his head._

_"We need to leave." Bruce said, "Whatever Jason did to him, he's not going to talk again. We stay and we'll be suspects for his death."_

_Nightwing gave a roar of frustration and followed Bruce out of the window as the Black Mask gave his last breath._

Batman's fists clenched as looked at the monitors in the Watchtower. That had been a week ago and he still wasn't any closer to finding Robin.

Suddenly he heard his comm beep.

"What is it?" he snapped.

"We've found him." J'onn cried exuberantly, "Batman we've found him."

* * *

I know! I know! It's short, but I really wanted to keep my promise of updating all of my stories in two weeks. And I did! Woo-hoo!

I promise the next update will be longer! And possibly more epic! Who knows! But you must review in order to find out!

So review!


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or it's characters.

Hi guys! I know my last chapter wasn't very long! But I hope this makes up for it.

A brand new Chapter! And it's longer!

I hope you guys enjoy this update.

* * *

Jason's eyes snapped open.

Years of training and conditioning by Batman gave him extremely heightened senses, so he could always tell when there was trouble.

Of course, be overly-paranoid was a bonus. So it came to no surprise when he woke up to find a knife being held by his throat. He quickly grabbed the wrist snapping it and taking his own knife from the pillow and slashing the guys' throat.

Tossing the body carelessly he jumped from his bed. "Kid? Kid?...Tim?"

"I'm here."

Jason looked up to find Tim hanging from the ceiling chandelier in their room.

"I was going to knock the guy out but...well I guess I don't need to."

Jason released a heavy sigh. He didn't know why, but he didn't want Tim to see him killing people. God know what he sees everyday as Robin. Not to mention what he went through with the Joker.

"Get your stuff." Jason said gruffly, he could beat himself up later, he needed to get Tim out of there. "We need to get out of here now."

Tim nodded, knowing that now wasn't the time to preach Bruce's teachings. He grabbed a knapsack that Jason had picked up for him, and quickly put on some of the clothes Jason bought for them.

Tim wore black snowpants and a green hoodie exactly the same as he wore in Happy Harbor. He snapped on the snow boots and put on a black overcoat. All in all, it was an exact match to what he would wear as a civilian in Happy Harbor. He even had the exact same brand of sunglasses that had broken during his time with the Joker. The only difference was that these clothes were built to keep the cold out.

Jason was wearing his usual Red hood gear as well. He grabbed his trusty helmet and placed it on. He turned back to Tim.

"Let's go."

He opened the door to find Talia standing there, with an army of her goons waiting for them.

"Hello boys." She said, "Going somewhere?"

* * *

In literally record time, Batman sped into the entrance of Mt. Justice where he and Dick jumped out of the vehichle before it even came to a halt.

"You found him?" Dick shouted, half-desperate, half-hopeful.

"We finally got a lock on his signal." J'onn said pointing to a beeping red dot on the three-demensional holographic map. "It's in Bosnia."

Once Bruce heard the name he froze. 'Bosnia, of course. The last place where Jason was...'

"Well what are we waiting for?" Dick demanded. "Let's go."

"Just a moment." J'onn said putting a hand on Dick shoulders. "We have a slight situation."

Bruce's shoulder tensed. "What do you mean by situation."

J'onn heaved a sigh, "The children have gone AWOL."

"They what!"

_(Flashback mode.)_

_Every member of Young Justice was sitting in the rec room staring blankly in space. Almost Eight weeks had past and they were just about to give up hope._

_Megan came flying though the rec room looking excited. "Guys we found him, We actually found him."_

_Once the words came out of her mouth everyone was on their feet shouting several different questions at once._

_As always Kaldur was the voice of reason. "Everybody Calm down! Speak one at a time."_

_Superboy beat everybody to the punch. "Where is he?"_

_"He's in Bosnia." Megan answered. "The radar finally got a lock on Ivo's signature. I was walking past the training room and I heard it beeping. I looked back and saw that the radar finally found a lock."_

_"Wait, wait so you mean we actually found him?" KF asked incredulously. "Well then what are we standing around here for? Let's go get him."_

_"Wait." Megan held her arms out in a placating manner. "We need to call the League first."_

_"To hell with the League!" Roy snapped. "We know where Robin is and we're more than capable of doing this ourselves."_

_"The last time we did that Robin was taken!" Megan snapped._

_That sobered Roy up quickly. There was a tense moment in the air._

_"Bringing up the past does nothing to help us now." Kaldur said taking control again. "I...agree with Red Arrow. We need to leave now, we don't know how long Robin will be there, and for all we know the Joker might move him as we speak. We can't waste anymore time."_

_"But the League-_

_"-Will understand." Kaldur interrupted, "And if not, then I will take full responsibility. We'll leave them a message stating where we are going and they should be able to track us down with that."_

_Conner said nothing, he stormed through the room and grabbed his leather jacket from a hook. "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go."_

_(End Flashback)_

"Why are we standing here?" Dick snapped, "We shouldn't be wasting time, we need to go after them."

J'onn placed a hand in the air. "I understand your impatience Nightwing, but the League believes it's best if...if we leave this matter to the children."

Dick finally snapped.

"Are you F***ing insane!" he snarled. "For the past eight weeks I've been going crazy worrying about Tim! I haven't eaten or slept, not a single minute goes by where I don't think about Tim! 'Is he alright?' Is he hurt? Is he even alive? You can't begin to imagine how I feel right now!"

By the end of his rant, he was panting. He was so focused on his rant he failed to notice the shadow behind him.

"I'm sorry about this Dick." a voice behind him said.

Then nothing but darkness.

"Are you out of your minds?" Bruce roared as he fought against the grip of Green Arrow and Black Canary.

Superman placed Dick on a waiting gurney. "I'm sorry Bruce but it's the only way. You and Dick have run yourselves ragged and you're in no condition to go anywhere. Besides if anybody in the League shows up with the kids then it could put their mission at risk. The sole reason we picked them was to use them as a covert team. We have to trust them Bruce."

Bruce stared hatefully at the Man of Steel and shook off his enforcers. "Get off me."

He turned towards Clark, "If anything happens...if they do anything to jeapoardize Tim's life...just know that there will be consequences."

Clark stared back unflinching.

Bruce stalked towards the infirmary to be with Nightwing, leaving the others to ponder their decision.

"Are you sure about this Clark?" Green Arrow asked.

"We have no other choice." Clark said clenching his fists. "I just hope that it's enough. Let's pray that they'll bring him back."

**(Bioship in Europe)**

"Guys I just checked our coordinates and we're nearly there." Megan stated excitedly. "We should be there in two hours maximum."

"Not soon enough." Conner growled. "Can't we go any faster."

He turned when he felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Kaldur looking at him softly.

"Calm yourself my friend." Kaldur soothed, "We are just as anxious as you are in getting Robin back. We _will_ find him Superboy. I promise."

Conner said nothing, but merely nodded.

"Everybody remember the plan." Kaldur said going into Leadership mode, "We need to handle this mission with caution, otherwise we could risk hurting Robin."

He turned to Megan. "M'gann, you will phase through the building. Do not reveal yourself, check the perimeter and make sure there is no threat. Once you give the clear, Red Arrow and I will handle the break-in, and KF and Superboy will follow us as soon as we break the barriers and they will begin the search for Robin."

Everyone nodded in agreement to their plan and braced themselves. They were all repeating the same mantra in their head.

_'Please let us bring Robin home.'_

* * *

Tim and Jason were running through the corridors of Ras's mountain, after they had taken down the twenty men that were stationed outside their bedroom door.

"You alright there kid?"

"Yes Jason for the hundreth time." Tim said flipping over another goon while Jason knocked him out.

"You're just now recovering from a lot of trauma kid." Jason grunted as he kicked a couple more. " 'Scuse me for caring."

"Care later." Tim said doing another spinning kick. "Fight now!"

Jason smirked. "Whatever you say kiddo."

A few minutes later the entire floor was littered with unconcious men.

"Not too shabby." Jason whistled. "Now come on. If I know Ra's he'll have cameras all over the place."

They were interruped by a loud crash then the ground started to shake as the room was starting to fill up with smoke. Jason kept a hand on Tim's shoulder to steady him.

"What the hell is going on here?" Jason yelled above all the noise.

"I may have set a few bombs to go off while we were running." Tim said with a sheepish look. Jason turned back to Tim in surprise.

"How did you-" He was interrupted by the sound of doors banging and coughing.

"Hurry!" He could hear Ra's' voice. "Don't let them escape!"

"Ok, escape now, questions later." Jason looked around and picked up an expensive looking vase and threw it out the window. The entire window shattered as glass rained outside.

Jason jumped first, then turned back at Tim. "Jump!"

Tim jumped immediately into Jason's arms. Jason caught him easily and ran into the woods. About two seconds later an even larger explosion occured in the mansion. Jason ducked behind one of the trees and placed his body over Tim's protecting him from stray pieces of debris.

Once Jason felt it was safe, he cautiously looked up and craned his neck around the tree. Nearly the entire second floor of the mansion was on fire, and smoke was filing out from the broken windows. Jason looked back at Tim.

"Exactly how many bombs did you plant in there?" he asked, half shocked, half-impressed.

"Twenty-two." Tim answered. "But they were smoke bombs, nothing was supposed to catch on fire."

"How did you even get them?"

"I snuck in the middle of the nigh and stole them from Ras's armory." Tim replied.

Jason just stared at Tim. "Are you absolutely sure Bruce trained you?"

Tim just gave Jason a blank look. "Yeah. You're right, we should get going. Ra's is probably tracking us as we speak."

"I doubt it." Tim said slyly.

"...I'm almost afraid to ask why." Jason said.

"I planted a virus through one of the computers in the infirmary." Tim explained, "I had a feeling that Ra's was going to try something tonight, so I planted it when we came back from the training room."

Jason just stared at him in awe. He really was the perfect Robin. "Kid...you are absolutely brilliant!"

Tim's signature cackle escaped from his lips. "Yeah, I try."

Jason smiled briefly behind the mask, then got serious. "Okay enough chit chat. We can't get overconfident, we still need to get as far away from here as possible."

Tim nodded and followed Jason, sparing one last glance at the burning building.

* * *

The members of Young Justice were staring in shock at the remains of the Phoenix Warehouse. There was burned wood everywhere, and two of the four walls were barely standing on rickety beams.

"This...is where the signal led us?" Conner asked.

Megan nodded slowly, "It-It's su-supposed to be right here."

"That's not possible!" Conner snapped, "It can't be here! Robin can't be here!"

"Calm down!" Aqualad commanded holding a hand out. "We will do a search of the perimeter. Then we will draw our conclusions."

While everyone nodded quietly, he could tell they were still on edge. If Robin was really here, then that meant...

Kaldur shook his head. _'No...No! He's not here! He's still alive! There's still hope!_'

Everyone cautiously looked around the building wasn't very big so there wasn't much to look at.

"I found something!" Conner shouted.

Everyone quickly rushed to Conner and saw that he discovered the table. "This is where the signal was coming from."

Aqualad kneeled down to examine the table, he wiped some of the soot from the surface. "One table, one building...but no Robin."

"M-Maybe he moved him." Megan suggested.

"Wait a second...what's that?" KF asked, looking towards what looked like another doorway, and something long and thin was poking out.

Bart slowly walked towards the doorway, Red Arrow was close behind him, his hands at the ready, in case for an attack. When they looked inside the room, the both gasped. Everyone came in to see what they found and they were greeted with the charred remains of the Joker.

M'gann screamed an buried her face into Superboy's chest, who stared at the corpse as if he couldn't believe it was real. Kaldur was in a similar state of shock.

"Oh my God." Bart gasped, putting a hand over his mouth, trying to keep the bile that threatened to come out of his mouth.

"He's dead." Roy said calmly putting his weapon down, but even he looked shaken.

"Not Robin." Kaldur begged, his knees threatening to give away, "Please tell us it isn't-

"It's not Robin." Roy confirmed. "Whoever this is is an adult male, but I can't identify him. His body is too damaged from the fire."

"Maybe now we should call the League." Megan suggested.

"No!" Conner said sharply. "We don't contact them until we've found Robin."

"But this was our only lead!" Bart said helplessly. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"We search the area." Kaldur said, "Superboy is right. We can't give up now, not when we've come this close. We'll split up and search individually. M'gann create a telepathic link between us. The rest of you synchronize your watches."

Everyone did as they were told. "We will meet back here in two hours time. Tread cautiously, we're taking a risk by going alone, but it's the only way to cover the ground. If you run into any trouble you run. Do not, I repeat **_do not_** engage in an attack. Understood? The last thing we need is another team member going missing."

"Superboy, take the South. Red Arrow, take the West. Miss Martian and KF will take the East, and I will search North." Kaldur explained, pointing to all the directions they were supposed to go. "Remember, be careful."

That being said, they all went their ways. Their hearts filled with hope and determination.

* * *

Both Tim and Jason were hiking up the snowy hills of Bosnia, the sky was so dark and cloudy they couldn't tell if it was night or day. But that didn't matter, a blizzard was coming and they needed to find shelter soon, otherwise they would freeze to death.

"I'm surprised Ra's hasn't found us by now." Tim panted as he tried to keep up with Jason.

"After the Extreme Home Edition Makeover you gave his house, I wouldn't be surprised if he was still pacing the floor cursing at us...or more specifically you."

"What can I say?" Tim said holding his hands up, "I'm good at what I do."

They chuckled with each other. Suddenly another icy gust of wind blew by them. Jason held Tim close to his body for warmth and protection from the harsh winds. The computer in his helmet started to beep, and Jason's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He looked around and saw a jumble of rocks, they seemed strong and sturdy enough to keep Tim out of the winds.

"Come on." Jason yelled over the wind, and he pulled Tim towards the rocks. He gently pushed Tim to sit down and the rocks surrounded his small body. "Stay here. I need to check something out, and no matter what you hear _do not_ move from this spot. Understand?"

Tim nodded, knowing he had no other choice but to listen. Jason ran towards the top of a particularly tall hill and used the night vision features of his helmet to look out towards the area. He also zoomed outwards so he could see what was going on for miles around. About fifty miles away, Jason could see a small blot coming closer and closer towards their directions. He looked closer and his eyes widened in surprise. It was that clone of Superman that he had seen with Nightwing two weeks ago.

"How the hell did-" Jason trailed off his contemplation, and began to think seriously.

Even though he had spent a short amount of time with Tim, Jason had grown very attached to him. He could see why his little mini-team was looking for him. But a large part of him, a very large selfish part of him didn't want to give him back.

_'Why should I?'_ he asked himself defensively._ 'They sure as hell haven't done a good job so far. He was taken under their watch, and he had to suffer six weeks of endless torture with that psychopathic son of a bitch. They didn't find him, they don't know what he went through. They weren't there for him during his time of recovery. They didn't spend endless nights staying up making sure that Ra's didn't try anything with him. They weren't there for him. I was.'_

_'They have no right.'_ he concluded. _'They have no right to take him back.'_

And even though he said all this, he knew what the right thing to do was.

Jason was a criminal. A murderer. A guy who didn't play by the rules, and while he constantly justified his methods and lifestyle, this wasn't a life that he wanted for Tim.

Tim desereved to be happy. He deserved a life of sunshine and hope. He deserved to be surrounded by friends and family, people who cared about him. He deserved a chance to make the world a better place. He deserved so many things that Jason knew he couldn't provide.

But they could. The Justice League, the Young Justice, Bruce. They could give Tim the life he deserved.

Jason's fists were clenched and shaking. As hard as it was to admit, Tim didn't belong with Jason. He didn't belong in his world.

_'I already had my shot.'_ Jason reflected. _'And I blew it. But this kid...he still has a chance. I'm not going to take that from him.' _

He looked back towards the rocks where he hid Tim. The ETA for Superboy was ten minutes tops. If he blew a flaregun over Tim's position Superboy would find him. He took a breath steeled himself for what he had do next.

Tim looked up when he heard Jason's boots crunching in the snow. "About time. I was starting to worry about you."

"Please." Jason scoffed. "Like they could take me."

"Your cockiness knows no bounds." Tim joked.

Jason smiled, then knelt to Tim's level. "Look kid, we need to talk."

"Talk about what? Our strategy plan?" Tim asked. "I thought it was get as far away from Ra's as possible."

"It is," Jason started, "But there's been a change in plans."

Tim raised a brow behind his glasses. "What kind of change?"

"I'm going to go ahead, and have Ra's follow my trail." Jason explained. "You're going to stay here."

"What!" Tim shouted, "What are you talking about? You can't leave me here! We're supposed to be a team, why save me if you were going to ditch me anyways!"

"So the others could find you and take you back where you belong." Jason answered. "They're here Tim. You're friends are here."

Tim's eyes widened in realization, "You mean...they're...They found me? They're really hear?"

Even though Jason was happy to hear the excitement in Tim's voice, and he could see the light in his eyes, his heart couldn't help but break just a little bit. It just proved where Tim really wanted to be.

"One of your friends is about forty miles from here, I'm going to send a flare up so he'll know where to go." Jason explained. He reached into his pocket and took out some bataarangs. "Keep these with you if you run into Ras's goons, but I'll make sure that doesn't happen. You're friend should be here in ten minutes."

Jason stood up and turned to walk away. "I'll see you around alright."

"Wait!" Tim called out standing up. "You don't have to go away! Come with me! You saved me, Bruce and the others will accept you. They'll help you Jason! Just stay with me! Stay with us. Come back home."

Jason knelt to Tim's level and put both hands on his shoulders. He looked straight into Tim's eyes through his mask. "I appreciate what you're trying to do kid. But there are some things that I did...some things that I can't walk away from. Things that I don't regret, things that I'll keep doing. The old man and Dick aren't going to be happy about that, and there are a lot of things about handling crime that we can't agree on. There's just too much between us that we can't fix."

"You won't know unless you try Jason." Tim insisted. "We're your family Jason. Family is forever. Family isn't going to turn away from you."

"How can you be so sure?" Jason asked.

"You saved me didn't you?"

For a moment Jason almost did it. He almost believed that he could do what Tim said, turn a new leaf, go back to the way things were before he died. Before the Joker took his life from him. But thinking back to all the crime, the drugs, what the Joker did to Tim. There was still evil out in the world, and Batman's methods wouldn't work forever. Jason would fall off the wagon, he would go back his old methods, and even though Bruce's opinion wasn't as important anymore...Tim's was. He couldn't stand the thought of disappointing or hurting Tim. Which is what he would ultimately do if he stayed.

Jason hugged Tim, and Tim hugged back just as fiercely. Jason savored every second he held Tim in his arms. He wasn't sure if he would ever do it again.

"You take of yourself kid." Jason whispered as he stood up and walked away again. This time he didn't turn back, and he was never more grateful for the red helmet on his head. His eyes were filled with unshed tears, but behind the mask they were hidden from the world. Hidden from Tim.

Jason pulled the trigger of the flaregun making sure that it was directly above Tim's position.

_"Take care of him."_ he thought silently to Young Justice, _"Otherwise you won't get him back."_

* * *

Superboy was jumping through the forest, looking for any clues to Robin's whereabouts. But no such luck.

_'Anything guys?'_ he asked through his mental link.

_'Negative.'_ Roy said.

_'I am unsuccessful.'_ Kaldur repeated.

_'Me too.'_ Megan agreed.

_'Ditto.'_ Bart inputed.

_'It is almost past the two-hour deadline.'_ Aqualad said, _'Perhaps now is the time to call for the League's assistance.'_

_'I'm surprised they haven't already butted in.'_ Roy snorted.

_'Not now Roy.'_ Bart said.

Just as Conner was about to agree with them, a flash caught his eye. He looked up to find a flare that was blown into the air.

_'Wait a minute.'_ Conner said, _'I think I found something. A flare was just shot into the sky. I'm going to check it out.'_

_'Superboy wait.'_ Kaldur said.

_'We've been waiting for the past eight weeks!'_ Conner snapped as he began to jump towards the area where he saw the flare. _'I'm not going to wait anymore! If you're so worried just follow my coordinates and meet me there.'_

Kaldur thought about it and figured that there was nothing to lose. _'Fine. Superboy, pursue. We'll meet up with you later.'_

"I'm almost there." Conner said outloud.

* * *

Tim sat down, hugging his knees to his chest. He was trying his best not to cry. It was true that he didn't know Jason for very long, but that didn't make it any easier to say good-bye. It felt like he was getting a brother back. Jason had been through so much, he thought he could fix it.

"I guess I'm not so perfect after all." Tim said to himself.

Suddenly a quiver in the ground took him out of his pity party. 'What the heck was that?'

"Whoa!" The noise got louder and closer, and the ground began to shake slightly. It stopped as quickly as it came, and Robin huddled closer to the rocks, listening for any threats.

"Hello?" A familiar voice called out. "Hello? Is anybody out here?"

Tim froze, unable to believe what he was hearing. He carefully peered above the rocks and saw Conner in his trademark jeans and shirt with a leather jacket.

'He's here.' Tim thought. 'He's actually here.'

Conner looked around, seeing nothing but same icy landscape that seemed to surround this country. He suddenly heard a crunch behind him and turned his fists ready to fight.

"Whose out there!" He demanded. "Show yourself!"

"Kon?" A small voice said.

Conner immediately let his guard down, as he heard the voice he was so desperate to hear for the past two months. "Robin? Robin is that you?"

Tim finally left his hiding spot and stood in Conner's view. They stared at each other in silence. Both not believing what was happening.

Finally Tim broke the silence, his smile breaking out once more. "Hey Kon. What's up?"

Conner broke into a run, and as soon as Tim was in arms distance, he pulled him into a hug. The first hug he had ever initiated.

"You're here." Conner breathed into his hair and held him tightly, afraid to let go. "You're here. You're ok. You're actually here!"

Tim hugged back with equal force, tears of happiness finally breaking through his eyes. He didn't realized how much he missed his friends. "I'm glad to see you too buddy."

Conner pulled Tim back and did a quick once-over his body. "Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"

"I'm fine." Tim reassured, "Seriously Kon, I'm fine."

Once he said those words Superboy pulled Tim into another hug. "Never do that again Robin." He said, "His voice full of emotion. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

Tim laughed as he wrapped his arms around Conner's neck. "Sorry buddy. I won't."

Conner laughed, and cried at the same time. He didn't care. His friend was here. He was safe. He was back where he belonged and Conner didn't intend to let him disappear again.

_'Superboy.'_ Kaldur called, _'Superboy what is your status?'_

_'He's here!'_ Conner shouted, not bothering to hide his joy. _'Guys he's here! I found him! I found Robin!'_

For a moment silence rang in the communication. Superboy could feel their disbelief through the connection, then he felt their joy, their happiness and began to talk all at once.

_'You found him?'_

_'Is he okay?'_

_'Is he hurt.'_

_'Calm down everybody!'_ Kaldur ordered, but the joy didn't leave his voice._ 'Superboy, stay where you are. The rest of us will find you in the bioship. We'll be there shortly.'_

Conner smiled again, and looked down at the boy in his arms.

Robin was back, and he would be home.

Their team was complete again.

* * *

Another chapter done. I really hope you guys like this! I hope the end wasn't too sappy for you!.

Let me know what you guys think!

Up next: The reunion between Robin and the rest of YJ and Batman/Nightwing!

Review please!


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice or it's characters.

AN: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Hi guys, I know it's been awhile and I hope your holidays were good. Well here it is, my first update of the new year and as you've already seen today is my birthday! Woo-hoo!

Anyways I decided that as a birthday present I was going to update this. Although I'm not really sure if the presents for me or you guys.

Anyways, please enjoy the new chapter! Sorry if it's not as long as you guys like. I hope you enjoy!

And if you want to give me a present, all I ask is for a review!

* * *

Not three minutes later, they heard the whirring of the Bioship. M'gann didn't even bother to land it. She merely opened the opening and the members of YJ jumped through and started running towards Robin and Conner.

Of course KF got there first.

"Dude!" Bart cried out when he literally smashed into Robin, he wrapped his arms tightly around the small teen. "About time you showed up!"

Dick could hear the tears that Bart was holding back, but he opted not to say anything and returned the hug. "What can I say? I was...tied up for awhile."

Up next was Megan. She had no problem letting her tears show. She wrapped her arms around Robin, not as excited as Barts but it was just as fierce.

"I thought...I thought..." she sobbed as she buried her head into his shoulder. "I'm so glad you're safe."

Robin held her for a moment, letting her gain composure and then she released him, giving Kaldur his turn.

"Robin," Kaldur began, "I am pleased to see you are well, I-

He suddenly grasped Robin's hand and fell to his knees, bowing his head. "Robin, please forgive me. Forgive me for failing as your leader. I am sorry that I was unable to prevent this from happening to you!

Robin blinked in confusion, then his eyes softened behind his shades. He pulled Kaldur's hand and helped him stand. "It wasn't your fault Kal. I'm really sorry that you felt that way. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I never blamed you or anyone else. Not once."

Kaldur looked at the boy in front of him and pulled him into a hug of his own. "I am so glad that you are safe."

Robin smiled gently, and wrapped his arms around Kaldur's chest. "I'm supposed to take Leader from you remember?"

Kaldur realeased out a half-laugh, half-sob from his lips . He kept his eyes tightly shut so the tears couldn't escape. "Thank you." He whispered, burying his face in Robin's hair. "Thank you for coming back to us."

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be." Robin replied.

Last but not least, Red Arrow stepped up and stood in front of Robin.

"You alright?" Roy asked gruffly.

Robin smiled, knowing that Roy wasn't really good with expressing his feelings. "I'm good."

Roy figured screw his stoicism. He pulled Robin into a hug of his own. He held him so tight, his feet were raised from the ground.

"Welcome back Kid." Roy said to him as Tim wrapped his own arms around his body.

"We should return to the League." Kaldur said. "They are probably worrying about us, and we must share the good news."

"He's right." Megan agreed floating to Robin's side, putting a hand to his shoulder. Pretty much the entire team surrounded him, none of them wanted to be away from him, as if he would disappear at any moment. "It's time for us to go home. All of us."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Tim asked. "Let's go!"

* * *

Ra's was sitting in his study quietly, his fingers intertwined in front of him. He sat in front of the fire, the only source of light in the room and pondered. The crackling of the fire and it's warmth his only companion.

His silence was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. Talia walked through and stood behind her father.

"We still haven't isolated the virus." She said, "And it's infected our entire system, not just that one computer."

"How serious is the damage." Ra's asked.

"All of our systems and programs are collapsed." Talia explained gritting her teeth. "None of our technology is working, not even our cell phones. And the business..."

"Go on." Ra's encouraged, still not taking his eys from the fire.

"Our company has taken a full dive." She continued, "Everything's gone; our information, the investmests, our future plans for the mergers, and our accounts are completely scrambled. No one seems to be able to make it through the barriers or firewalls placed. For all we know, we could be completely bankrupt."

"Hmm."

"Is that all?" Talia demanded incredulously, "That's all you can say? Do you have any idea how much damage they've done to our organization!"

Ra's suddenly stood up and settled his sharp gaze to Talia, who immediately paled.

"Father, I-I'm sorry...I only meant-

Ra's raised a hand to silence her then stood up to walk in front of the fireplace. He pressed a few keys and a computer screen emerged from a hidden door in the wall. It showed surveillance throughout the entire mansion. Including Tim and Jason's room.

"You forget one thing Talia." He grabbed a remote control and began to fast forward the video,"_They_ didn't destroy this organization, only _he _did."

He stopped as a full visual of Tim was on screen.

"You mean the child?" Talia asked raising a brow.

"Exactly." Ra's said. "Do you have any idea how long The Detective has been meaning to throw a wrench in our plots, and he rarely ever succeeds, and the times he does, most of his damage is minimal. But this boy...all he did was plant a simple virus in a single computer and he has somehow managed to accomplish what the Detective could not. "

"So what's the next step?" Talia asked, "Do we abduct him again? Force him to repair what he has damaged?"

Ra's shook his head, "No, no let him relax for awhile. He's just gone through a nasty squabble with the Joker, so we'll keep him on surveillance for now. We shakk watch him grow and then wait for the opportune moment to...recruit him."

"If you say so Father." Talia bowed her head in obediance.

Ra's waved his hand dismissively.

Talia walked out of the room and made sure to shut the door. Ra's turned back to the screen and looked at Tim's face again.

He smirked as he held the remote to turn it off. "Until we meet again...Detective."

* * *

"Are you serious?" Oliver demanded in an incredulous voice. "No...no that's okay, don't worry about it the League will take care of it. Just get here fast. Alright, I'll see you in a bit Roy."

He hung up his comm and turned back to the League with a thousand watt smile. "Guys they found him! The team found Robin!"

Bruce's head whipped around so fast any other person would've gotten a whiplash.

"Where is he?" he demanded.

"They're on the Bioship." Oliver explained, "They're already flying across Europe at maximum speed, they should be home by tonight."

For the first time in almost two months Bruce let his guard down (As much as Batman would let his guard down). The lines of tension disappeared from his face, and he would've collapsed if not for Superman being right next to him and catching him as he wobbled.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah." Bruce said almost laughing. "I'm better than I have been in a long time."

"Why don't you take a rest." Diana suggested. "You've earned it."

"No." Bruce said, "I can't rest, I can't sleep without seeing Tim ok. I have to make sure he's safe first."

Superman gripped his shoulder gently but firmly. "Bruce, they'll be here in two, three hours tops. Besides, he's with the League's top apprentices, there's no way they're going to let anything happen to him. He couldn't be in a safer place."

"The last time he was with them, he was taken in broad daylight!" Bruce said harshly, "I'm not going to let their mistakes endanger him again!"

"Hey calm down." Flash said, zipping in front of Bruce, "This isn't their fault. You know that, and they've just risked everything to bring him back."

"I'll be the judge of that." Bruce said, "My eyes will not close until I see Tim."

A groan interrupted them, they turned to find Nightwing sitting up from the gurney he was lying on and pressed a hand to his eyes. He blinked a couple of times to take the sleep out of them. Bruce immediately rushed to his side and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You ok?" he asked in concern.

"Yeah, but what happened to me?" Dick asked once he was coherent.

"You were sedated." Bruce explained, "You've been unconcious for awhile now."

Once Dick remembered what he was fighting about, he became more alert.

"Tim! What happened to him?" He asked in a rush. "Is he ok?"

Bruce gave Dick a shoulder a small squeeze. "He's fine. The team found him and they're bringing him home."

Unlike Bruce, Dick could never hide his emotions well. Once he heard the words leave Bruce's mouth, his eyes widened and took a long shuddering breath as he gripped Bruce's arm and bowed his head. His shoulders shook as he tried to regain composure. It was a good thing he was wearing his mask, to hide the tears that were building up in his eyes. He finally looked up.

"Where is he?" He demanded, parroting Bruce's words. Unlike Bruce, you could tell his voice was thick with emotion, "I want to see him."

"The Young Justice has him in custody," Bruce explained, "They're already on their way home. Tim should be here in a few hours."

Dick began to laugh, both from relief, joy, and shock. He grabbed onto Bruce's shoulders and clasped him in a hug. Bruce placed a hand on his back. A solid reminder to let him know he was there.

"He's coming home." Dick whispered over and over. "He's finally coming home."

* * *

There you have it! Tim's reunion with the team! Don't worry next chappie will have Bruce and Dick's reunion! With another appearance of the deranged vigilante we all know and love...JASON!

REVIEW PLEASE!


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: I own nothing. come on people you should know this by now!

* * *

The bioship was nearing Mt. Justice and the team was preparing to land. Robin fell asleep on the way, feeling completely safe and at ease for the first time in weeks. Everyone kept stealing glances at him as if he would disappear if they took their eyes off him.

Aqualad opened communications once they were actually in Happy Harbor, "This is Aqualad. Does anybody copy?"

Immediately Batman's voice responded. "Batman here, what's your eta Aqualad?"

"Approximately three minutes sir." Aqualad responded, "We are approaching the mountain as we speak."

"I'll have the doors opened for you...Is Robin there?"

Aqualad smiled softly. "Yes, but he is asleep right now."

"Is he alright?" Batman urged.

Aqualad looked back at Robin who was sleeping peacefully next to Superboy, his head rested on Superboy's shoulder using him as a pillow. "He is fine, at least from our perspective."

"We're awaiting you arrival." Batman finally said, "Batman out."

The line went dead and Aqualad focused on landing the ship. "M'gann are we prepared for a landing?"'

"Yes, I can see the opening by the mountain." M'gann stated as she focused her mind.

* * *

They entered the doors of the cave and were greeted by the sights of a damp, dark tunnel with a bright light at the end. They finally arrived at the platform where a number of Justice League members awaiting their return with Batman and Nightwing at the front of the crowd.

They carefully landed the ship and turned of it's engines, all members standing up.

"We're home guys." Roy smiled, he turned to Superboy. "You got him?"

Superboy carefully cradled Robin in his arms bridal style and held him close to his chest. "I got him."

The doors of the ship opened and they were greeted with the smiles and cheers of the Justice League. Nightwing immediately sprinted towards the group and stopped right in front of Superboy. For a moment he simply stared at Tim as if he didn't believe that he was real. He reached out his arms and Superboy gently placed Tim in them.

Nightwing held Tim tightly to his chest and simply relished holding his little brother in his arms again. Tim seemed to be stirring, his brow pulling to a frown.

"Shh." Dick whispered. "Go back to sleep kiddo, I got you."

Tim complied, recognizing his brother's voice even through the fuzzy haze of sleep.

Dick looked up to stare the team directly in the eyes.

"Thank you." He said, his voice quivering from holding his tears back. "Thank you for bringing him home."

Batman decided that now was the moment to swoop in. "Nightwing, we should go. Robin needs tending to."

Nightwing all too readily agreed and followed Bruce out of the cave.

"Wait!" Superboy called out. "Where are you taking him?"

"He's coming with us to the cave," Batman stated. "We have a physician on-call that can give him all of the care he needs."

"But you can't!" Bart said, becoming the personification of everyone's internal panic at the thought of Batman taking Robin away. He would've run to Batman if Flash wasn't holding him back, this seemed to be the case with all of the protoges and their mentors. "We just got him back! You can't take him away again!"

Batman had signaled Nightwing to move on without him, once he felt that the team was going to get more excited. He didn't want their antics to disturb Robin's rest. Nightwing nodded and walked ahead making sure to hold Tim's body even closer than before.

"He's right." M'gann agreed struggling in her uncle's arms. "Not after everything we've been through!"

"My King please." Aqualad begged as Aquaman held him back.

"Get off me." Superboy growled, shoving Superman's hand from his shoulder, he turned to Batman. "I'm not letting you take him from us!"

"Calm down, everybody." Bruce said in a firm, but not harsh tone. "It's not our intention to remove him from the team...at least not yet. But I _will_ be bringing him home. Home to his family. Whether you believe it or not, you were not the only ones worried about Robin."

"He's our family too!" Superboy snarled. Roy put a hand on his shoulder trying to calm him down.

Bruce turned on his famous BatGlare. "I am taking him home. End of story."

Batman's eyes then softened and he drew a heavy sigh, "Nevertheless...thank you for bringing him home. There's no way I can ever repay any of you for what you've done for me...for us. I am truly grateful for what you have done...so thank you."

He changed his demeanor once again, transforming into the intimidating, and dark-themed persona they've all become familar with. "I want all of you to take the next two days off, you've all earned a good rest. We can discuss the details of your expedition to me then."

That being said, he turned away, his cape swooshing in all it's dismal glory trailing behind him.

No one spoke for a moment, until of course...

"Well** that** was dramatic." Flash said, trying to ease the tension with a lame joke.

Bart coughed out a chuckle, which turned into giggling, which turned to laughter and finally escalating into a hysterical laugh holding his stomach, and releasing great big gulping laughs, tears rolling down his cheeks finally releasing all of the pent up tension and stress he had carried during Robin's disappearance.

His laughter was contagious because once Bart started, M'gann soon joined in, along with Kaldur, Superboy and even Roy. All of the young heroes laughing, whether it was because of stress, hysterics or plain insanity.

Once the adults were sure they had finally calmed down, their mentors decided to take charge.

"Alright, it's been a long day for all of us." Green Arrow said, "I think Batman was in the right, we should all take these next couple of days easy. We all need to take time to recover from this ordeal. While you kids did find Robin you still disobeyed direct League orders I want all you kids to stay here for tonight. "

No one bothered arguing with him, for they had finally allowed themselves to feel relief and they simply leaned on each other for support.

"Let's go guys." M'gann said. "We should get some sleep, it's been a long day for all of us."

THe team immediately agreed with her, they all walked towards the rooms. Only Superboy remained, staring at the hallway where Robin disappeared to.

"You coming Kon?" Roy asked.

"In a sec."

"...he's coming back Conner." Roy said, "You heard Bats. He's not being pulled from the team."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

* * *

The ride to Wayne Manor was quiet. The only sound filling the air was Tim's rhythmic breathing. Dick had yet to release him from his grasp. Finally they arrived at the cave, where Alfred was awaiting them.

"Oh thank Heavens." Alfred breathed once he saw the Batmobile. Once he had heard that Tim was found a great weight was lifted from his shoulders, and he made sure to have everything in the cave prepared including the medical area. The car finally came to a stop and the hood slowly lifted from the car revealing Bruce and Dick's tired forms. Dick had fallen asleep on the way home, but his grip on Tim didn't lessen. Bruce carefully got out and slowly shook Dick awake.

"Dick." he said softly. "Dick we're here."

Dick awoke with a start, then relaxed once he realized where he was. Bruce held his arms out.

"Give him to me." he said. "I've got him."

Dick placed him in Bruce's arms and Bruce held Tim with an even greater reverence that Dick or Conner. He walked towards the awaiting Gurney and placed Tim on it.

"What are you going to do?" Dick asked.

"I want to do some tests." Bruce replied, "I want to make sure that he's okay. He'll be taking a week off, and after that I want J'onn to do a full psych evaluation."

"You sure about all of this?" Dick asked. "I mean after everything he's already been through."

"He was taken by the Joker." Bruce growled, "I'm surprised that Tim is still in one piece. You and I both know what the Joker is capable of."

"Exactly." Dick argued, "I don't want Tim to have to relive it all. He needs rest and support, not a bunch of medical junk and confinment."

Bruce gripped his fists, "I am trying to do the best thing for him."

"I know." Dick said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But for tonight... let's just rest. He's home Bruce. He's safe."

Bruce knew he was right and decided for once to listen to someone else's advice.

He sat on one side of the gurney while Dick sat on the other, keeping a vigil watch over the child.

* * *

Jason was sitting alone in his cave, simply listening to the silence. He couldn't believe that after just one week with Tim, already his old lifestyle seemed so...lonely.

He had received confirmation that Tim had arrived at the Manor. He was safe and at home, and Jason was inexplicably glad. He turned off the computer screen that was playing the DVD from Joker's House of Horrors. Jason had barely managed to stomach it the first time, but he needed to see just how far the Joker went into damaging Tim.

Needless to say, Jason could barely keep his lunch in after what he had viewed. There was more footage in the original disc that the one that the Joker had shown him, images of Tim crying himself to sleep, eating moldy bread crusts and live rats just to stay alive. And it also showed an extra monologue from the Joker himself. He had planned to convert Tim into a minature version of himself. If Jason had been just a day late...he shuddered to think of the consequences for Tim.

Jason's fists clenched as he stared at the tiny little DVD in his hand. It took every ounce of his will power not to take that disk and smash it to bits. But he needed to keep it. This disk was the only testament of the sacrifice Tim made for not only Batman, but for the entire Justice League. For his team, for Dick...for him.

Tim had endured so much to keep all of them safe, he did not want that to be forgotten.

He placed the disk in a safebox and locked it away.

"I won't forget." he said to himself, looking at the photo of Tim on his computer, "I will never forget."

* * *

And there it is folks! The final chapter! C'yall later!

...

PSYCH! FOOLED YA! ...or did I?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!


	19. Epilogue

Disclaimer: I own nothing. come on people you should know this by now!

All right, the final chapter of this story. Thanks to all those who were so loyal and read this to the end. I hope you guys enjoy it.

* * *

Tim stared out to this ocean, smelling the breeze. He was standing outside Mt. Justice, it had been a month since he had returned home. So much had already happened, it took Bruce a long time convincing to let him back on the team, and even a longer time for Dick. But in the end, they gave in, both realized that taking Robin away from Tim would only hurt him more than help him.

(_Flashback)_

_As soon as he opened his eyes, he was welcome with the sight of the Batcave's ceiling. He blinked few times to make sure that it was real, and he was not disappointed. He immediately sat up to observe the rest of his surroundings._

_"Tim?"_

_Tim turned his head at the familiar voice and was welcomed with the sight of his oldest brother. He had a disheveled look about him; his hair was mussy, his eyes had dark rings, and it looked like he hadn't shaved in at least a week._

_"Dick!" Tim wasted no time in throwing his arms around his brother's neck and burying his face into it. Tears of relief started rolling down his cheeks._

_"Timmy." Dick held Tim in his tightest grip, tears of his own falling down. "I was so worried, I never stopped looking, not once."_

_"I missed you so much." Tim sobbed._

_"I missed you too," Dick said, tightening his grip and rubbing his head, "Believe me I missed you too."_

_"Tim."_

_Tim looked up to see his father standing right behind them._

_"Bruce." Tim gave Bruce the same welcome he gave Dick, wrapping his arms around his middle. Bruce returned the hug wrapping his arms around Tim's shoulders._

_(1 week later)_

_"Everything seems to be fine" Leslie said, writing on her clipboard. "In fact better than ever."_

_She proceeded to take off the various wires and needles from Tim's arms. She had been doing a final evaluation of his health. She was surprised by the lack of injuries on Tim's person. Since he had been missing for over two months she was expecting to see some fractured bones, malnutrition or at the very least some scars or bruises._

_Tim had never been in better shape, his blood pressure was normal, and there was no sign of any fractures on his bones. It surprised her to say the least._

_"Alright then, why don't you two go upstairs while I talk to Bruce." Leslie said with a smile._

_Dick helped Tim get off of the bed, he gave Bruce a sideways glance, silently asking to be filled in later to which Bruce nodded his asent._

_He then turned back to leslie and crossed his arms. "What's the real damage."_

_"That's just it Bruce." Leslie said, "There is no damage to his body. I've looked at his blood, his x-rays, and scans. There's not a single trace of lasting damage whatsoever. If I didn't know any better I would say with confidence that he was never abducted."_

_"You and I both know that isn't true." Bruce snapped, "He was held by the Joker for God's sake."_

_"Can you actually confirm that?" Leslie asked. "I mean the Joker hasn't been sighted since his escape from solitary."_

_"That's because he's dead." Bruce said bluntly._

_Leslie's eyes widened in surprise. "Did you-"_

_"Of course not." Bruce said, "That's a line we don't cross."_

_"How did he die?" Leslie asked._

_Bruce sighed. "We don't know, his body was so badly burned that all trace evidence of his murder is gone. There was nothing left but a charred skeleton. The only clue we have is that part of his skull had broken off. The only person who knows the entire story is Tim, and Dick has been especially protective of him."_

_"Have you talked to him about what's happened?" Leslie asked._

_"That's just it." Bruce said, "He doesn't remember."_

_"That's not uncommon." Leslie said, "Whenever the body goes through a traumatic experience, the mind often represses the memories as a defense mechanism.:_

_"No I mean he literally can't remember." Bruce said, "I had J'onn come to do a scan to his mind and the six weeks during his captivity are a complete blank. It's as if his memory had been erased."_

_"That's not possible." Leslie said, "Bruce as open-minded as I am, memories can't simply be erased."_

_"I know," Bruce said, "But J'onn worked with Tim for 36 hours and he found nothing."_

_"What does Tim say?" Leslie said._

_Bruce had a moment of silence. "He hasn't been talking. We don't have the whole story yet."_

_Leslie sighed. "Bruce I understand that with your line of work, it can be...difficult, but Tim cannot keep this to himself. It will do him more harm than good._

_"I understand that Leslie," Bruce said, "But how can i ask him to relive the worst time of his life?"_

_"He has to talk about it Bruce." Leslie said, "Otherwise his healing process will never be complete."_

_(Scene 2)_

_"Tim we neeed to talk about what happened." Bruce stated._

_"Bruce." Dick started in a warning tone._

_"We need the truth Dick." Bruce said, "It's already been a week and who knows what Tim has already forgotten."_

_"You got Manhunter to scan his mind and he couldn't find anything." Dick said._

_"Exactly." Bruce stated. "He couldn't find ANYTHING. That right there sets off red flags. There's more to the story and only Tim can tell us."_

_"He's been through enough." Dick growled. "You cannot possibly-"_

_"I can still hear you know."_

_Both swiveled around to find Tim standing behind them._

_"Honestly I'm surprised that it took you so long." Tim said, "I figured you would've grilled me the second I opened my eyes."_

_"We were giving you time to heal." Dick said._

_"It's ok, Dick." Tim said. "I understand."_

_That was the problem. Tim ALWAYS understood. Growing up he never really got the chance to be a real kid. His parents were always off on business trips, and would often leave Tim alone with the maids and butlers. Tim was always like a mini-adult; did his homework, got good grades, never caused trouble. Until the day his parents had the accident. His mother had died on impact and his father was still in a coma. Luckily for him, Bruce and Jack Drake were old college buddies, so Bruce took him in. It took them almost a year to finally crack his shell._

_"What happened that day Tim." Bruce asked._

_"I really don't remember anything." Tim said, "My capture is a complete blank, it's like those six weeks of my life disappeared."_

_"What do you remember?" Dick asked._

_"Jason." Tim said._

_Both men's eyes widened in shock._

_"What are you talking about?" Bruce said in tight voice._

_"Jason saved me." Tim said. "The only thing I remember in those two months is Jason. He told me that I had been captured by the Joker and that he found me and got me out of there."_

_"Jason saved you?" Bruce asked barely masking the surprise in his voice._

_Tim nodded. "He made sure that I was safe. He...he took me to Ra's Al Ghul's palace and-"_

_"He did what!" Dick roared out._

_"He said that they were the only ones who could help me." Tim explained quickly._

_"I swear to God I am going to-_

_"He protected me!" Tim yelled out. "He never left my side once and he made sure they never laid their hands on me!"_

_"Tim you know-" Bruce began._

_"What I know is this!" Tim interrupted again, "I know that Jason died six years ago. I know that as soon as he found out I existed he was angry and hurt, and I know that he's done a lot of bad things since he came back. But when I woke up that day, with no idea of how or why I was there Jason was there. Whenever I got scared, he calmed me down, and whenever I felt threatened he protected me. And when he had the chance to take me away or let me go back to you guys he let me come back."_

_Both men stood in silence during Tim's rant._

_"I'm not asking you guys to ignore the crimes he's committed." Tim said, "All I'm asking is that you remember he's still a member of this family."_

_(Scene 3)_

_Jason had just scared off some local dealers. He did have any need to kill any of them...today._

_"What do you want?" Jason asked, not bothering to turn around._

_Dick jumped from his hiding spot. "Tim told us everything."_

_"That so?" Jason said carelessly putting his gun away._

_"Why?" Dick asked. "Why would you save him?"_

_"If you really believe that I would leave the kid in the Joker's clutches then you really are a shitty brother." Jason snapped, making Nightwing flinch._

_"You've never really given us a chance to believe otherwise Jay." Dick said, using Jason's nickname, making Jason throw a knife in his direction._

_"Don't you ever call me that." He stressed with each word. "You lost that right a long time ago."_

_"I know." Dick said. "You have no idea how sorry I am for that."_

_"A fat lot of good that does either one of us." Jason snapped._

_Dick knew that this conversation was getting nowhere, so he decided to change the subject. "What happened to the Joker?"_

_Jason's body stiffened when he heard the name. "What the hell does that matter?"_

_"He's dead."_

_"I know, and I'm not sorry for it." Jason said._

_"Did you do it?" Dick asked._

_Jason debated for a moment, trying to decide if he should tell Dick the truth. But he knew that in the end, it was better he didn't know. He knew that both Bruce and Dick would look at Tim differently, not conciously but the doubt would still be there._

_"Like I told the kid," Jason said, "He's taken care of."_

_"Thank you."_

_Jason turned to Dick, surprised by the words that came out of his mouth, but Dick was serious._

_"I'm not going to pretend that I approve," Dick said, "And honestly I don't know if I would've done the same. All I know is that those six weeks I was away from Tim were Hell to me. Literal Hell. So, I don't care what you did, all I care about is the fact that Tim's safe. So, Thank you. For everything."_

_"I didn't do it for you." Jason said._

_"I know." Dick said, "But thanks anyway."_

_For a moment there was silence between them. Finally Jason spoke._

_"How is he?" Jason asked._

_"Holding up." Dick said. "He's back with the team."_

_"I'm surprised." Jason said, "I figured you guys would have locked him and thrown away the key."_

_"Wouldn't have done us much good." Dick replied, folding his arms. "He would have carried on with the work with or without us. At least this way we can keep an eye on him."_

_"Right because you did _such_ a great job the first time."_

_"That won't happen again." Dick said with great conviction._

_"Damn right it won't." Jason said, grabbing a grappling hook, "Tell him I said hi."_

_With that he took off into the night, vanishing without a trace. Like a true Bat._

_Despite himself Dick smiled. He wasn't sure what he had hoped to accomplish by confronting Jason, and it didn't seem like anything had changed. Yet he couldn't help smiling as he walked away._

_Things were good._

_(End)_

"Robin?"

Tim turned to find Conner walking towards him.

"What's up Kon?" Tim asked.

"We just got a new mission." Conner said, "Bialya, we're supposed to do a follow-up with Queen Bee's status, and Red Arrow's supposed to meet us there."

"Guess we should get going." Tim said, "Race you there!"

Conner rolled his eyes fondly, but followed pursuit grateful to hear the all-too familiar cackle echo throughout the air.

Yes, things were good.

* * *

That's all folks. and yes...This IS the actual last chapter!


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